Windcaster
by cecilia.clare
Summary: "My Master believed the force guides people together." Another padawan? You'd think after training Anakin, Obi-Wan would be all done teaching. Instead, a whirlwind of energy comes barreling out of a shuttle at the Battle of Christophsis named Esinon Windcaster. She will have to battle her own demons, along with the Darkside, but with her Master at her side, she feels invincible.
1. prologue

**This is a rewrite of Windcaster now that I have Disney plus and the Clone Wars to work with! I've been working on this for a while and was waiting to post it, but with Clone Wars glorious return it only seemed fitting. You don't need to read the original Windcaster, of course, now without further ado... enjoy!**

**Also thank you to whoever informed me that in Star Wars, it's basic, not English, I went through and fixed all that! Thank you again, **

Screaming rang through the treetops, a small girl sat in the middle of the frenzy, rocks and Ewoks alike were all floating in the air around her. She reached out for her friends and family, but it only pushed them away.

"She's dangerous!" someone screamed, she shoved her hands under her legs, biting her lip as everything fell back down.

**The next day…**

Master Windu got off the ship, he took a deep breath of the crisp Endorian air. He had sensed the force here, but where. He followed his instincts as he moved through the trees until he spotted an Ewok village not far ahead. He landed on a platform soon surrounded by the furry little creatures, he saw a young girl poking her head out from a hut. Small Scipian markings donned her head. It was her, he could sense the intense force radiating from her. He could hear the murmurs rippling through the crowd as he moved towards the girl. They all cleared out of the way, he crouched down in front of her.

"Hello, my name is Master Windu."

"Maile bujhina," she said cocking her head, she obviously didn't understand anything he was saying and vice versa. He pulled a translator out of his robe and placed it in his ear.

"What's your name?"

"Esinon," she responded,

"Do you know why I am here?"

"You're like me," she said pointing at his head, she was very smart for a two-year-old.

"Yes I am, and you have extraordinary abilities just like me." he said, "and you need to come with me so you can learn how to use them."

"Stay here," she said pointing a finger at the ground.

"I talked to your mom and dad and they said you need to come with me." Esinon looked at the ground confused,

"But,"

"Come on, it'll be safe with me, young one. You must learn to use your powers." she looked over to her parents who turned their heads away.

"Why you no want me?" she asked tear.s starting to brim from her eyes.

"Go with the man Esinon, you're dangerous." the small three year old started to cry and cry and cry, Mace finally was able to get her onto the ship.

"Ama! Buba! Nachoda!" she screamed, he tried everything to get the small scared girl to stop crying and failing in his arms. His padawan Depa came around the corner,

"Would you like help Master?" she asked looking at the screaming,

"Yes please," Windu said, handing over the screaming child to Depa. She walked away down the hall bouncing her in her arms. Windu could hear her crying softening. He walked into the bridge where his padawan was piloting the ship with Esinon now passed out in her lap,

"And this is why I'm a Jedi and not a father." he joked glancing at the sleeping child,

"She's just in shock right now," Depa said, "She'll be fine sooner or later, it's just the initial part that's hard."

"You seem good at this,"

"Well, it was just my turn at the creche." Soon they had landed back on Coruscant, Depa shifted her arms, the child's head resting on her shoulder. Esinon stirred, starting to wake up. She looked around, confused,

"Kaham Ama ra Baba?" She murmured, Depa looked to Master Windu for help.

"She doesn't speak any basic ." He said as he led them down the halls to the high council room. Windu opened the door to see Master Yoda and Master Fisto standing in the middle.

"Master Windu, Padawan Billaba, to see you, good it is," Yoda said,

"As well as you Master Yoda, Master Fisto. I found the force-sensitive you saw on Endor."

"The girl, this is?" he asked, glancing at the little girl in Depa's arms.

"Yes, we found her living among the Ewoks, she doesn't speak any basic."

"Timi ko ho?" she asked looking at the life forms that stood in front of her, Yoda and Fisto would be like nothing she had ever seen before. "Kina hariyō?" she asked,

"We obviously need to teach her basic," Fisto said, smiling at the little girl, Depa's arms were getting tired, she set Esinon down on her feet. The small toddler looked back up holding up her arms towards her,

"Hēra," she turned her head to the windows in the room, she toddled over pressing her hands on the window, "Dhatu rukhaharu?" Fisto walked over pointing at the big whipping world of Coruscant.

"This is Coruscant." she looked up at him, she held her arms up to him. He obliged the toddler picking her up, he could feel something special about this one. "I can teach her basic if you want Master Yoda,"

"Helpful this would be, Master Fisto," he replied, Esinon fiddled with his tentacle.

**One year later… **

Esinon gripped Master Fisto's hand, as they headed towards the training grounds where the other younglings were practicing, he paused as they made it to the doors,

"Are you ready?"

"Yes Master," she replied, he pushed open the door leading the four-year-old into the grounds, she studied the other children who were busy at practice. She immediately got a big grin on her face,

"Can I do that?"

"Yes, that's why we're here," he replied. She let go of his hand and ran off to join the other younglings. Master Fisto smiled as she joined the other younglings, he had been training her personally, but now it was time for her to go off on her own.


	2. The Battle of Christophsis

**In honor of clone wars streaming on Fridays, I'll be posting on Fridays! Thank you for reading! **

**Battle of Christophsis seven years later…**

"Retreat, Retreat!" the Separatist droids yelled, they pulled away as blue laser fire continued to rain upon them.

"They're pulling away," Anakin said in surprise. A small supply ship pulled over the battlefield,

"Looks like help has arrived," Obi-Wan added, R2 beeped excitedly, "Our cruiser must be back." the two Jedi walked towards the supply ship.

"Which means we'll be able to get our reinforcements," Anakin said,

"Then it looks like our problems are solved. Fresh troops, new supplies, and perhaps they brought my new padawan with them." Anakin looked at his former master in surprise.

"You really think it's a good idea to bring a padawan learner into all of this?"

"I spoke with Master Yoda about it. You should put in a request for one as well. You would make a good teacher."

"No, thanks," Anakin said chuckling to himself,

"Anakin, teaching is a privilege. And it's a part of a Jedi's responsibility to help train the next generation," he responded,

"A padawan would just slow me down," the large door to the supply ship, a young togruta girl walked down the ramp.

"A youngling?" Obi-Wan asked in surprise,

"And who are you supposed to be?" Anakin asked R2 beeped excitedly,

"I'm Ahsoka, Master Yoda sent me. I was told to tell both of you that you must get back to the Jedi temple immediately. There's an emergency." she informed them,

"In case you didn't notice, but we're in a bit of an emergency right here," Anakin said, motioning to the mess behind him.

"Yes, our communications have been a bit unreliable, but we've been calling for help," Obi-Wan noted,

"Master Yoda hadn't heard from you so he sent me to deliver the message," Ahsoka said, Anakin sighed,

"Oh great, they don't even know we're in trouble."

"Maybe you can relay a message from the cruiser that just dropped me off," Ahsoka suggested, Anakin and Obi-Wan made eye contact, before Obi-Wan nodded. They followed Ahsoka onto the ship,

"Excuse me!" a small girl pushed past them, shoving a communication pod with all her might. All the Jedi jumped out of the way it barreled through, "Sorry!" she pressed a few buttons on the pod, setting it down. "Coms have been spotty," she muttered flipping dirty-blond hair out of her face, Scipian markings on her forehead, she disappeared behind the com pod.

"And who are you?" Anakin asked she popped back up.

"I'm Esinon, nice to meet you," she said, giving a small wave. She looked to be a technician, it was abnormal to have one who wasn't a clone. Whoever this girl was, she was an absolute bundle of energy, both Jedi could sense it. Esinon flipped a few switches, she hit the button that would make the communication go through, a clone appeared on the pod, it glitched for a second, the familiar trooper voice crackling and buzzing. Esinon hit the side of the pod with the bottom of her palm, Anakin noticed the padawan braid hanging from the back of her head as well. That was strange, two of them? Anakin got distracted for a second, ignoring what Obi-Wan and the other clone were saying, he snapped back to reality,

"We are under heavy attack from the Separatists, but I'll try to make contact with the Jedi temple for you. Stand by." the clone walked away from the com, the four stared at each other awkwardly. A few agonizing seconds later Master Yoda appeared on the pod,

"Master Kenobi, glad Ahsoka found you I am." the old Jedi said,

"Master Yoda, we're trapped here, and vastly outnumbered. We are in no position to go anywhere or do anything. Our support ships have all been destroyed." Obi-Wan explained,

"Send reinforcements to you we will." the transmission crackled and glitched,

"Master Yoda? Master Yoda?"

"Srapa," Esinon grumbled, disappearing behind the pod again, she opened up a panel, pulling out some wires, "I'll try and get the transmission back, but the Separatists are jamming our communications." she pulled out a hydrospanner starting to adjust the frequency. "Try it now," Anakin pressed a button, the clone's transmission came back through.

"We lost communication to the temple sir," a few more troopers ran into the room,

"We need to leave orbit immediately, more enemy ships have just arrived. We'll get back to you as soon as we can." the transmission cut out.

"Well, I guess we'll have to hold out a little longer." Ahsoka looked around awkwardly since her job was finished. Esinon was busy trying to push the pod back on the ship.

"My apologies, young one. It's time for some proper introductions." Obi-Wan said walking over to Ahsoka,

"I'm the new padawan learner. I'm Ahsoka Tano," she responded,

"I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're a new master."

"I'm at your service Master Kenobi, but I'm afraid I've actually been assigned to Master Skywalker," Ahsoka said,

"What? No, no, no," Anakin stuttered, "There must be a mistake, he's the one who wanted a padawan." he motioned to Obi-Wan,

"He has one, I've been assigned to Master Kenobi." Esinon piped up,

"And Master Yoda was very specific. I'm assigned to Anakin Skywalker, and he is to supervise my Jedi training." Ahsoka said,

"But that doesn't make any sense," Anakin said,

"We'll have to sort it out later, it won't be long before those droids figure out a way past our cannons," Obi-Wan said,

"I'll check on Rex in the lookout post," Anakin said starting to walk away,

"You'd better take her with you," Anakin rolled his eyes as Ahsoka followed after him. Esinon walked back out from the ship,

"We can do proper introductions now," he said,

"I'm Esinon Windcaster,"

"Obi-Wan Kenobi, your new master." he replied, "So how old are you?" This girl looked small, she had to be young.

"I'm twelve, I turn thirteen in a few months," she said, with a bounce in her step as they walked,

"Well, we better go check on Cody."

"212th right?" he nodded his head as they set off,

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon looked around at the large legion of troopers that were moving around preparing for battle,

"You run all this?" she asked in awe, Obi-Wan chuckled to himself,

"One day you will little one," a clone in orange came up, he noticed Esinon straighten up a little bit, the clones towering over her standing at about six foot, she looked to be about four-eight.

"How's it going, Cody?"

"Quiet, for now, sir. They're gearing up for another assault." Cody said he glanced at Esinon who was still taking in all the sights. "Who's the youngling?"

"I'm Master Kenobi's padawan," she stressed padawan, Obi-Wan could sense she knew she was extremely young to be a padawan, but Anakin was younger when he was starting to train. "The names Esinon Windcaster," she said offering her hand, Cody shook it,

"Commander Cody, well I guess Captain now, Commander Windcaster."

"Why don't you go with Cody, and he can bring you up to speed while I take care of some logistics," Obi-Wan suggested nudging his padawan forward.

"Ok master," Obi-Wan paused watching his young padawan bounded alongside Cody, her ponytail bouncing with each step. Esinon was extremely young to be a padawan, she should really be at the temple training for at least two more years with her clan, but Master Yoda must have seen something in her.

* * *

"Are you in charge here?" she asked as they walked through the station where everyone was getting ready for the battle.

"Well, the General has the main command, and then you now have second command since you are a Jedi," Cody explained slowing his pace a little bit for the small girl.

"I think I'll need some help with that, I've never really done anything like this," she said,

"Well, I'd be happy to Commander." she paused looking at something in the distance, she walked over to a few crates getting up higher.

"What's that?" she asked pointing to something off in the distance, he looked in the direction she was pointing. A large red shield was expanding over where the Separatists were based, tanks were pulling towards the city center.

"That's not good, we need to find the General now," he said, the two ran back towards the center base.

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon looked down at the hologram in front of her,

"Their shield generator is somewhere in this area," Obi-Wan said pointing to a spot on the map, "They're slowly increasing the diameter and keeping it just ahead of their troops. Heavy cannons are gonna be useless against it, I guess as they get closer we could try and draw them into the buildings, leveling the playing field."

"If that shield's such a problem, why don't we just take it out?" Ahsoka asked,

"It's easier said than done," Rex replied,

"For once I agree with her, someone has to get to that shield generator and destroy it. That's the key." Anakin said,

"You seem pretty tech-savvy, is there any way you could possibly hack the generator and shut it down?" Obi-Wan asked Esinon, she glanced back down at the hologram,

"Well, I could download a kill code onto a drive, but I think that just making it go boom would be more efficient," she responded,

"I like this one," Rex chuckled,

"Right then, we'll just need to destroy it. Maybe you two can tiptoe past through enemy lines and solve this particular problem together." Obi-Wan said to Anakin and Ahsoka,

"Can do, Master Kenobi," Ahsoka responded enthusiastically,

"I'll decide what we do," Anakin interjected,

"If Rex, Cody, Esinon, and I engage them here, you two might have a chance to get through their lines undetected, here," Obi-Wan said pointing to a spot just behind the city center.

"They won't have much time. The droids far outnumber us. So our ability to street fight is limited without the use of heavy cannons. They'll march under their shield until they are right on top of our cannons, then they'll blow them away." Rex finished,

"We'll figure out a way. Come on, Master. Let's go." Ahsoka said, walking away.

**A few minutes later…**

The cannons fired blasts, hitting the shield but did nothing. She stared at it through binoculars.

"Have you guys ever faced anything like this?" she shouted over the loud blasts of the cannons.

"Every day, but these are extremely strong!" Obi-Wan yelled,

"It's no use, sir! Even at full power, the cannon does not affect it!" Rex shouted,

"Alright, well it was worth the try. Tell the men to fall back." the order came and they all retreated to the safe zone. She ducked down behind a fallen part of a building with her master, the red shield passing over them.

"We're inside the shield now, just stay away from those tanks." her master whispered, igniting his lightsaber, she did the same. He held out a hand and they paused, he counted down on his fingers. Three, two, one, the two Jedi leapt into the air out in front of the droid army.

"Jedi?" one of the droids asked, they landed slicing through a droid, the clones slid down on their cables laying down covering fire. She focused on destroying as many droids as possible, her master was quick and agile on the field, using the force, and his lightsaber together. She bounced from droid to droid and kept on fighting. Looks like they were ditching the plan of luring them into the building for now. She kept fighting stabbing and slicing, it felt like it was her and her master vs the galaxy. She was small and this galaxy was big, this whole battle was enormous. Esinon lept from a roof cutting the arm of a droid off of a clone, she used the force to shove that droid into another, the clone quickly scrambling to his feet. She could see her master and Rex running over,

"They're right behind us sir! They wiped out most of my unit. We had to pull out of there." a loud explosion sounded in the distance, the trio ran behind more debris taking cover.

"The shield has almost reached the heavy cannons,"

"We're not going to be able to stop them, sir." Obi-Wan paused to think,

"Move your troops back to the heavy cannons. Do everything you can to protect them, we'll delay the droids," he said to Rex,

"But-"

"That is an order Captain!" Rex nodded, taking off. Esinon looked behind them to see a large droid, she stabbed her saber into it, throwing it over her head. She and her master jumped over the debris, she deflected the beams with her blue bladed lightsaber, more droids, more droids, more droids, must keep going. BOOM! An explosion roared behind them, she ducked away from the blast, she looked to see legions of droids coming, with tanks. They came in from all sides, surrounding them, Obi-Wan motioned for her to surrender. She looked up at the large tank cannon that was aimed at them, she put her lightsaber at her side. The top of the tank opened revealing Whorm Loathsom,

"You must be the infamous General Kenobi," he said,

"We surrender," Obi-Wan replied calmly, the droids took their lightsabers, her master smiled as they did so. She gave him a confused look,

"Now, Master Kenobi, order your troops to stand down," he instructed, Obi-Wan used the force to lift some crystals forming a table and two chairs.

"General, have a seat," he motioned to the new table and chairs,

"Have you gone mad?" he asked, the droids pressed in, Esinon scooted closer to her master, he put a protective hand out in front of her, glaring at the droids before turning his attention back to Loathsom.

"I have conceded the battle, now we simply have to negotiate the terms of surrender," he responded,

"Fine, but none of your tricks Jedi," he grumbled getting out of the tank,

"I see no reason why we can't be civilized about this." the General walked around the corner, "Tis a rare honor to be able to meet one's opponent face-to-face. You're a legend in the inner core." the General sat down at the makeshift table, "By the way, this is my padawan Esinon Windcaster." she waved slightly, standing next to her master as he also took a seat,

"Thank you, the honor is all mine. I'm so glad you decided to surrender."

"Well at some point, one must accept the reality of the situation," he stated calmly, what in the world was her master doing. She could sense that this wasn't the end of the battle, her master coughed a little. "Might we have some refreshments?" the General pointed at a droid,

"You! Bring us some liquid!" he ordered, the droid walked off,

"Thank you, this shouldn't take long," he said, soon the droid returned holding tea. Esinon kept close to her master, especially with all the blasters pointed at her head currently, Obi-Wan delicately sipped his tea, "And of course once you have custody of my troops, arrangements will need to be made for their food and shelter. Tell me, do you have enough suppli-"

"Enough of this! You are stalling!" the General shouted angrily, Obi-Wan kept a cool head,

"Nonsense General, there are numerous details to be discussed." Loathsom flipped the table over in a fit of rage.

"Seize them!" droids grabbed both of the Jedi by their arms suspending them in the air, she looked over at her master who was still serene as ever. "Unless you call off your troops right now, I will have no choice but to destroy you!"

"Truthfully, I was hoping your shield would be knocked out by now," Obi-Wan said looking up at the red shield above them, Esinon glanced up, it was falling.

"Oh well," she flipped out of the grip of the droids. She smashed their heads together following her master as he grabbed the General, using him as a hostage, the droids continuing to fire at the pair of Jedi.

"Stop firing! Stop firing!" he commanded the droids,

"Something appears to have happened to your shield, General." Esinon's comlink buzzed, Admiral Yularen appeared, she held it out for both her master and herself to see.

"General Kenobi, if you can hear me, we're through the blockade. The Separatist armada is in full retreat, your reinforcements should be arriving soon.'' She looked up to the sky to see gunships overhead. She helped her master cuff the General,

"I see why they call you the negotiator." she joked, a gunship landed in front of them, Master Yoda stepping out,

"Master Yoda, your timing is impeccable."

**A few minutes later…**

She and Master Kenobi stood down with the troops, a gunship flew overhead, it landed near them. Anakin and Ahsoka stepped out,

"Master Obi-Wan, Master Yoda,"

"Trouble with your new padawans, I hear?" Master Yoda asked, looking from Esinon and Ahsoka to Obi-Wan and Anakin.

"Ahsoka's a little rough around the edges, but with a great deal of patience and training, she might amount to something," Anakin said,

"And I'll admit she is a little young, but Esinon is strong with the force. With training and patience for her nervous energy, she could become a very powerful Jedi." Obi-Wan looked down at the small twelve-year-old who was beaming at him.

"Ahsoka will go with you to the Teth system," Master Yoda said,

"Teth? That's wild space. The droid army isn't even in that sector," Anakin argued,

"Kidnapped, Jabba the Hutt's son has been."

"You want me to rescue Jabba's son?" Esinon could sense his disgust towards the name,

"Anakin, we'll need the Hutt's allegiance to give us an advantage over Dooku," Obi-Wan said,

"Negotiate a treaty with Jabba, Obi-Wan and Esinon will. Find the renegades that hold Jabba's son, your mission is Skywalker." Master Yoda finished,

"Come on Master, it doesn't sound that hard. I'll find Rex and get the troops organized," Ahsoka ran off, Anakin sighed,

"Don't worry Anakin, just teach her everything I taught you and she'll turn out fine," Obi-Wan said, Esinon looked at Anakin curiously, he was trained by Master Kenobi too?

"You know, something makes me think this was your idea from the start," he replied walking off,

"Let's just hope he's ready for the responsibility," Obi-Wan sighed,

"Ready for an apprentice, Skywalker is. To let go of a pupil, a greater challenge it will be. Master this Skywalker must,"

"If I've got a deal to work out with Jabba the Hutt, I'd best be on my way. Come on Esinon," he said, she bounded after her master, she looked to see a blue Jedi fighter next to a red one.

"Is that for me?"

"Yes, please be responsible," he said, she jumped into the shuttle, running her hands over the buttons, this tech was amazing, she took off, following her master into the sky and out of the atmosphere.

**Tatooine…**

She jumped out of the cockpit, her feet landing in the sand, in front of a large palace. She straightened the blue tabards hanging out from under her belt, her master soon joined her.

"I've read in books that Jabba kills people if they don't give him what he wants… or gets angry, which is all the time," she said nervously,

"I'm sure that Jabba's in a good mood, but maybe just let me do the talking and stick close," he said, she nodded, the large metal door creaked open, a protocol droid, a Kumumgah, and two weequays emerged from the darkness.

"We should not keep the wise and powerful Jabba waiting," the droid said,

"I wouldn't dream of it." her master responded, they followed the band into the palace, she looked up noticing the watching eyes, the door closed behind them. They walked down the hall Gamorrean guards glaring at them, it smelled foul here, and the force felt joyful but fearful, like the dancing, singing, and drinking could end the life of any in attendance, like they would party themselves to death. She could hear bouncy music and laughter echoing down the hall. They finally made it to the throne room, Jabba the Hutt sat on his throne, a twi'lek danced in front of him. The protocol droid came up to the large Hutt,

"The Jedi are here your excellency," Jabba roared in approval,

"I've always meant to learn Huttese," she muttered,

"Well what can you speak?" he asked,

"Ewok, Basic, and Nautila, I'm studying twi'lek right now," she replied, her Master seemed impressed. The two Jedi now stood in front of Jabba,

"Mighty Jabba, one of our most powerful Jedi is on his way to rescue your son. We will not let you down." Jabba spoke to them in Huttese, she looked to the protocol droid.

"The most gracious Jabba has one condition, he demands that you bring back the slime who kidnapped his little punky muffin." the droid said calmly,

"Punky?" her master asked sarcastically, in a hushed tone, Esinon stifled laughter. Jabba spoke again,

"Dead or alive," the droid translated, "If you do not succeed, Count Dooku and his army will. You have one planetary rotation." The droid finished, the two Jedi bowed to the Hutt and walked out of the palace.

"What now?" Esinon asked, walking towards her fighter.

"Now we go to the Teth system and help Anakin. It is vital we get this deal with Jabba." R4 beeped at him, "I know R4 I want off this dust bucket as much as you." Esinon jumped in the cockpit of her ship, it sealed on the top of her. She took off after her master flying towards the Teth system.

**Teth System…**

The clones waved her in as she landed smoothly in the Republic Cruiser, the hatch opened,

"Captain, tell Admiral Yularen to get underway. We need to reinforce Anakin." her master instructed Cody,

"Yes sir," she hopped out of her ship joining her master,

"Where now?"

"The command center," he replied as they began to walk, Esinon walked past multiple groups of clones, this was a crazy operation the Republic had. She still couldn't believe she was already a commander, just by default of being a Jedi, hopefully, Cody would be like a co-commander for her, he seemed nice enough. They reached a large pair of blast doors, which opened, she marveled at all the clones, and technology. This was heaven, officially. Obi-Wan glanced at his padawan, her bright eyes darting around the room trying to take it all in at once. He smiled walking towards the communication pod, pressing a button contacting Anakin, letting Esinon take a moment to explore her new environment. "Anakin, have you located Jabba's son?" he asked the flickering image of Anakin,

"We have him, but it looks like the Separatists are behind his abduction. This smells like Count Dooku to me."

"I think it's little stinky you smell," he heard Ahsoka say from off-screen,

"I'll bet Dooku is using us to get Jabba to join the Separatists." Ahsoka came onto the screen,

"Master Kenobi, we have another problem. The little huttlet is very sick."

"I'm sure we can get him back to Tatooine alive, Master. The whole rescue may backfire on us. I still don't think dealing with the Hutts is a good idea." Anakin said,

"Anakin, you know they control most of the shipping routes in the outer rim. Jabba's cooperation is crucial to the war effort. If you let anything happen to his son, our chances of a treaty with him will disappear."

"Possibly with our lives." Esinon stated joining him at the com pod, everyone looked at her, "What? I've read things." she shuddered,

"Master! We've got a problem!" Ahsoka shouted both Jedi looked to the sky,

"Anakin?"

"We'll have to call you back, Master. We're under attack. We could use a little help here if you have time."

"I'll get there soon, protect the Hutt Anakin," he instructed hanging up,

**The Hanger…**

She pulled her ship into the release bay, along with other ships.

"Red light, stand by," the room was shrouded in the red light, she flipped a few switches firing up her cannons, the roar of the ships was deafening. She put her hands on the helm, deep breath in, deep breath out,

"Greenlight, we are a go." The hangar doors above them opened allowing the idling ships out into space. She followed her master at the front of the fleet,

"Skywalker's in trouble you know the drill." Obi-Wan said to Cody, "You're going to want to-"

"I know Master," she replied quickly, she had studied her war history.

"Vulture droids up ahead," Cody warned, she could see them coming up ahead. She waited, her radar beeping, beeping, lock on target, she pressed down firing a few blasts hitting the droid.

"Nice shot," Obi-Wan said in approval,

"Thanks," she spun around moving into position with the rest of the fleet, a detonation shook her ship. "How are we supposed to get to the ground in this?"

"We don't! We have to get through this wave before we get to land." Cody responded, she fired again at another oncoming droid, she inhaled deeply, centering herself. She flew over the Republic Cruiser defending it from oncoming droids, she glanced out her window spotting some sort of landing platform, glowing clouds, explosions.

"Master, I see a landing platform, it looks like there's a battle going on there. Eastside."

"If there's a battle, Anakin's probably in the middle of it. We'll start looking for him there, form up on me." Obi-Wan instructed she pulled away from the cruiser, falling into formation with the other ships. They pulled towards the ground, the other ships falling away leaving just her and her master,

"R5, take over," she told the astromech, they pulled towards the ground, R5 released a barrage of fire upon the droids below, the hatch opened up, she flipped out landing on the ground, saber ignited next to her master, she threw her saber into a droid, she jumped grabbing it out and cutting through two more. The gunships hovered above, releasing the troopers of the 212th. They met up with Rex, taking cover behind a downed vulture droid,

"Where is Skywalker?" Obi-Wan asked,

"He's still inside the castle sir,"

"Hold the droids here, Esinon and I will go find him," he instructed,

"Yes, sir,"

"Let's go!" her master shouted over the blasts, she followed him into the palace, ducking under the doors as they closed behind them. There before her stood Asajj Ventress, and two droids.

"Master Kenobi, always chasing after Skywalker, how predictable."

"Anakin always leaves quite the mess, which always inevitably leads to you Ventress," he said, breaking into a ready position, Esinon settled into her stance as well.

"Take them," Ventress instructed the droids, they began to fire as Ventress made an escape. Esinon deflected the beams, striking one back at the droid, distracting it for a second allowing her to swiftly slice through it, her master taking care of the other. They ventured further into the abandoned temple, entering a large room with a skylight at the top, and pillars lining the walls. Esinon looked around seeing no sign of the assassin, but she could sense her presence, so could her master.

"Ventress, we know you're in here. You can't hide. I can feel your frustration." Esinon realized something, he was trying to draw her out. "Let me guess, you're after Jabba's son too?" Esinon felt a wave of rage fly through the room as Ventress pounced from the ceiling. She attacked pressing a saber to each one of the Jedi's, Esinon pressed back harder. Ventress broke away from them, she threw off her skirt into Obi-Wan's face, distracting him for a moment, Ventress lunged towards Esinon swinging her sabers, Esinon deflected her sabers, Ventress shoving her back. Master Kenobi used the force dragging Ventress away from his young padawan, she flipped back smashing her red sabers against Obi-Wan's,

"You'll have to do better than that, my darling," he began to advance on Ventress, the two engaged in a graceful attack and deflect. Ventress used her sabers to throw Obi-Wan's out of his hand. "Well, now I'm impressed." Ventress swung angrily in his direction, he agilely ducked and dodged each aggressive swing. She managed to back him into a corner, placing a saber to his throat,

"Now you die,"

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Esinon growled, jumping into the air throwing a kick, hitting Ventress in the chest sending her stumbling backward. Obi-Wan called his lightsaber, igniting it,

"Shall we continue?"

"My pleasure," Ventress replied, taking on both the Jedi, a saber for each. Master and apprentice fighting the unrelenting Ventress. The battle moved at a fast pace, Esinon was struggling to keep up, she kept her saber moving one into the next, into the next. She flipped out of the way of another blow, Ventress returned the favor kicking Esinon in the chest sending her crashing into a pillar, Ventress attacked, swinging her saber's one, two, three above Esinon's head. Obi-Wan used the force pulling Ventress away, the two Jedi ran across the room,

"Get ready," he said eyeing the pillars,

"For what?" she asked as they ran,

"Jump!" she obeyed, leaping into the air, Obi-Wan used the force to throw his padawan up onto the ledge of the pillars before leaping up himself. Esinon tucked in a roll, landing on top. Obi-Wan dashed up the pillars joining Esinon. Ventress growled jumping after them, she landed in between the two Jedi.

"We know of Dooku's plot to turn the Hutts against us. It will not succeed."

"It will when the truth dies with you." Ventress snarled, she dragged her sabers along the ground, throwing sparks in Obi-Wan's face, she leapt spinning in the air, smashing her lightsaber against his again and again. Obi-Wan shoved Ventress back, he motioned to the window. Esinon leapt out, Obi-Wan following. They both landed, she followed her master as they began to run down the path along the ridge.

"And this is the part where we make our daring escape."

"I was hoping you would say that," she said,

**Back at the Republic Cruiser…**

"Why don't you rest little one, I must report to the council."

"I'm not tired," she replied,

"Esinon, you've had a busy day, you've earned it. Go rest," he instructed, Esinon sighed in defeat,

"Yes Master," she walked around the base while her Master reported back to council, had she done a good job today? Was she proving herself? Her thoughts swirled in an anxious tornado in her head, it wasn't too late for her master to send her back to the temple. She finally found her quarters on the ship sitting down in her bunk, taking a deep breath collecting herself. She heard a knock on her door a few minutes later,

"It's open!" she called, it slid open her master walked in looking up on the top bunk.

"I came to tell you that it was Ziro the Hutt who hired a capture on Jabba's son. Ahsoka and Anakin are going there to deliver the baby Hutt right now. We're going to meet them there since they need a pick-up." he could sense his padawan's overwhelming anxiety, "Are you ok?" she glanced down at him,

"Yes Master," she paused thinking of what to say next, "I just didn't expect this to be my first day of training." she sat up, "Battlefields, kidnapped Hutts, droids, and clones…" Obi-Wan climbed up to the top bunk joining his padawan,

"When I was being trained, the war wasn't a thing. When the war started Anakin was soon knighted, I missed having a padawan, so I signed on for one. You were honestly younger than I expected."

"You don't think I'm too young, do you?" she asked nervously,

"No, I think that it is the will of the force you are at my side. My master believed the force guides people together," he paused, "No I'm not gonna send you back to the temple." her eyes went wide hearing her thoughts coming out of his mouth. "You have nothing to prove to me, you have already proven yourself today, holding your own in battle against the Separatists, and Ventress."

"Thank you, Master," she said, smiling, Obi-Wan jumped off the bunk his padawan following his lead out into the command center.

**Tatooine…**

She stood with her master inside the gunship as Anakin and Ahsoka joined them,

"Yet another exciting day in the Republic," Anakin muttered,

"And many more to come," Esinon said, feeling uplifted by her Master's words of approval. Her journey as a padawan was just beginning.


	3. Destroying the Malevolence and Rookies

**Hello everyone! Next chapter up as promised! Leave me a review if you have time! Thanks**

**One month later…**

After a daring escape, Anakin Skywalker and Plo Koon have joined Master Kenobi on their attack against the Malevolence, hoping to destroy the dreaded ship. Unfortunately for our heroes, Count Dooku has other plans…

**Present-day...**

"Where has she disappeared to now?" Obi-Wan muttered looking around the ship for his young padawan,

"She's probably with Xavier," Plo said calmly,

"Forgive me Master Plo, but who is Xavier?" Obi-Wan asked, on cue Esinon and a Zabrak came running around the corner, the two padawans halted in front of their masters,

"Xavier, meet Master Kenobi. Obi-Wan meet Xavier, my new padawan." Plo said, Xavier held out his hand to him,

"Nice to meet you." Obi-Wan shook his hand, his skin red, with big amethyst eyes, and small horns beginning to grow in. Obi-Wan paused, he looked just like Darth Maul.

"Nice to meet you as well Xavier," he said,

"Commander, what's the damage to the enemy ship?" Master Plo asked,

"She's lost her primary shields and stabilizers, but the ship is so massive it can take all the fire our cannons can give it," he responded,

"We must summon reinforcements," Obi-Wan said,

"That's why I'm here, Master Kenobi," Anakin and Ahsoka came around the corner,

"Anakin, were you able to contact Master Luminara?"

"Yes, Master. She's busy with a fleet of Separatist reinforcements nearby," he responded, "She won't be able to give support until she's turned them away.

"Then we'll have to make do with what we have." the ship continued to chase after the Malevolence. Esinon, Xavier, and Ahsoka stared out the window, a few more minutes of this continued. "Admiral, status report," Obi-Wan said as Admiral Yularen walked in,

"They're not attempting to jump to hyperspace, their hyperdrive must be damaged."

"This is our chance. All ships, target the bridge, maximum firepower." Esinon could sense something from her master, she turned to look at him, but he was enveloped in the battle at hand. She turned her eyes back to the scanners, a small ship appeared.

"Master, I'm picking up a signal near the enemy vessel. Something just came out of hyperspace."

"Enemy reinforcements?" Obi-Wan asked,

"No, it looks like a Naboo ship," she said,

"All gunners stand down! What in the blazes are they doing out here?" Obi-Wan asked,

"Esinon, contact that ship," Anakin said Esinon pressed a few buttons,

"Naboo ship, identify yourself," Padme Amidala appeared on the hologram,

"This is Senator Amidala,"

"Padme? What are you doing here?" Anakin asked,

"I went on a special mission. The Senate was told the banking clan wanted to negotiate a treaty," she said, an explosion sounded,

"Get out of here as fast as you can," Anakin instructed, Padme jolted in her seat, "Padme, what's happening?"

"I'm being pulled inside the droid cruiser by a tractor beam. I will not be made into a Separatist bargaining chip." she said angrily, "Continue your attack. You must destroy this monstrous ship." the hologram glitched out,

"Admiral, order our ships to stop firing," Anakin instructed the ships halted their attack. Esinon watched the smoking Malevolence float further away. Anakin began to walk away,

"Where do you think you're going?" Obi-Wan asked,

"Someone has to save her skin," he responded, Esinon took off Anakin,

"Sounds fun!" she said excitedly,

"I had a feeling you would say that," Obi-Wan said they walked down towards the landing bay. Anakin hurriedly climbed into a ship, Esinon expected her master to tell her to return to command, but it never came. They began to climb into the ship,

"Wait, you're actually letting me come? I thought for sure by now you would reprimand me about being reckless and then send me back to command," she said,

"Trust me, no one is more reckless than Anakin and it'll be a good training exercise," he said, Esinon gave him a confused before getting onto the ship. "I trust you've already formulated a brilliant plan to rescue the Senator," Obi-Wan said sardonically, yep, he was ok.

"As a matter of fact, I have."

"Ok, do we have a plan B?" Esinon asked,

"My young padawan is correct, every operation needs a backup Anakin," he said,

"I don't have a back-up plan... yet, but I do have a plan for getting on that ship," Anakin said,

"Really?" Obi-Wan asked, sounding not hopeful,

"The enemy sensors are obviously damaged, so we'll sneak behind them and dock at the emergency airlock," Anakin said confidently,

"That's your plan? Just fly there, land, hope they don't spot us and walk in the door?" Obi-Wan asked, making sure he was understanding the plan correctly,

"Basically," Anakin said,

"Oh, brilliant. Let's get going." Anakin pulled down on the ignition, as the ship took off towards the Malevolence, Esinon squinted, trying to see through the thick clouds of black smoke. "If they spot us, we'll be pulverized."

"They're too busy repairing the ship, they don't have time to notice us," Anakin said calmly,

"Subtlety has never been one of your strong points Anakin,"

"Everything I know is from you, Master," Anakin said,

"Am I going to be that reckless when I'm a Jedi Knight?" Esinon asked sarcastically,

"Not if I can help it," Obi-Wan said, Anakin spun the ship hard, Esinon felt herself rise out of her seat for a brief second. He docked sharply at the port, jolting all three Jedi. They got out of the ship, starting their ascent on a platform.

"That was some of my best flying if I do say so myself," Anakin said proudly,

"Anakin, you're crazy. Spinning is not flying." Obi-Wan shot back,

"It sure is a cool trick though," Esinon standing in between the two men, the door to the elevator opened and two droids stood before them.

"Ah! It's them!" one of the droids shouted,

"Oh no," the other one said, the three Jedi ignited their lightsabers, the two knights took out the droids.

"You didn't even save me one lousy droid," Esinon said disappointedly, replacing her saber back on her belt.

"Next time," Obi-Wan said,

"Stay here R2," Anakin said to his astromech,

"We better move, before more droids find us," Esinon said, the three Jedi took off, Esinon pulling ahead.

"She's fast," Anakin muttered,

"She sure is," Obi-Wan, she must be using the force to make up for her height without realizing it. Anakin's com-link chirped,

"Yes?"

"Master, we've found the senator." the three Jedi stopped, "We're patching her through now."

"Anakin?" the senator's voice asked,

"Padme? Are you alright? Where are you?" he asked,

"On the lower levels, I'm fine, but I don't know for how long. Droids are everywhere," she responded,

"Obi-Wan, Esinon, and I are here," he said,

"What? What are you doing here?" Padme asked frantically,

"We came to get you off this ship. Ahsoka, how can we get to the senator?" he asked,

"According to our scans, there seems to be a large open area in the center of the ship. It should be halfway between the two of you." Ahsoka said,

"We're on our way." Anakin said, "Did you hear that Padme?"

"I'll be there." the comlink went dark, the three Jedi took off, they made it to the coordinates. Esinon looked down over the ledge at the trains,

"I don't see her Master," she said,

"She's here, I sense it." Esinon looked around the room, she heard blaster fire, she glanced down at another exit, the senator standing there.

"There!" she shouted pointing, the three Jedi ignited their lightsabers, moving down the ledge and jumping onto the next moving train.

"Look Jedi!" one of the droids shouted,

"Blast 'em!" the other one responded, two beams were fired, Obi-Wan stepped back letting Esinon and Anakin handle it. Esinon ducked as they went underneath an overpass. Anakin spotted the Senator a few levels away,

"Padme!" he shouted, jumping off the train and landing a few away from her.

"Always on the move," Obi-Wan muttered, Esinon looked up as they raced on the trains.

"B2 super droids! Dead ahead!" she shouted, the droid fired a missile, blowing out the bridge where the Senator was riding. Esinon couldn't hear the two over the rush of wind around her ears, Padme jumped and Anakin caught her using the force bringing her safely onto the train.

"Nice catch, I'll go fetch the droid." Obi-Wan said, Esinon chased after her master, they timed a leap down to a train near the protocol droid, "You're up." he said, Esinon stepped forward outstretched her hand towards the droid, she concentrated using the force to carry the droid, she opened her eyes, a train was barreling towards him, crashing into Threepio.

"Oops," she said, putting her hand down, "Sorry Master,"

"Blast, that's alright. I didn't see that train either. Let's try and catch up with him." Obi-Wan pressed his comlink, "Anakin, we got separated from your droid.

"I'll take care of it," Anakin said with a sigh,

"We better go take of that hyperdrive, with us cutting off our attack they would be close to finishing it by now," Esinon said to her master,

"Well, we're headed that way anyway," he said, Obi-Wan spotted a ledge, "Get ready to jump... now!" the two Jedi leaped into the air, Esinon tucked into a roll, she came out of the roll gracefully and hit the ground running next to her master. They soon made it to a pair of blast doors, her master used the force to open them. Esinon and Obi-Wan ran into the room, standing on a bridge over a big drop. Two droids stood by a control console, the droids turned around seeing the two Jedi. Esinon looked to her left seeing more droids entering, as well as on her right. Destroyers rolled out in front of the console, with more droids bringing up their rear. Esinon heard maniacal laughter coming from behind them, she turned around to see the towering figure of General Grievous. He leaped down from the ledge, Obi-Wan turned and smiled at the General. Esinon stood her ground next to her master, her heart racing.

"Hello there," General Grievous said, "General Kenobi, did you really think that I would leave the hyperdrive unguarded?"

"Anything's possible, and you haven't quite impressed me today," Obi-Wan said Grievous laughed again, echoing in the room.

"Kill them," he ordered,

"_Jump behind the destroyers when they fire." _She heard her master's voice in her head. She nodded, the droid's blasters now trained on the two Jedi, they released fire down on them. Esinon and Obi-Wan jumped up, flipping out of the way. She ignited her lightsaber, she used the force to shove the destroyer into the droids, her master did the same, Grievous began to fire at them, they both ducked behind the final destroyer, Obi-Wan used the force to push the final droid into Grievous.

"Let's go," Obi-Wan said leading his padawan away from the fighting, they ran out of the hyperdrive room, fire still raining down. Obi-Wan deflected a blast without even looking.

"What about the hyperdrive?" Esinon asked,

"We get off this ship so command can blow it to pieces," he said, turning a corner. "I also don't feel like fighting Grievous today,"

"Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan come in!" Anakin shouted out of Obi-Wan's comlink.

"Anakin, I'm afraid Grievous is onto us."

"Yeah, we noticed," faint blast fire sounded from his comlink,

"We'll rendezvous back at the Twilight_._ The fleet must engage the Malevolence." a loud squealing emitted from his comlink, Obi-Wan quickly turned off the transmission. "They must be blocking all transmissions, well we got the important part across. We better hurry," they made it back to the train depot. Esinon could hear the angry clanking of Grievous's feet, she jumped off the ledge landing on the train below with her Master. She looked up to see Grievous jumping down onto their train. He angrily cut into boxes as he made his way towards them,

"He doesn't look happy," Obi-Wan looked up to a large crane, "Back up and start running," Esinon nodded backing up a few feet before she took off running, Obi-Wan used the force to throw his padawan up to the crane, she grabbed on swinging around towards Grievous, she put her feet out towards his face and landed, kicking him in the face. She flipped away down to another train. Obi-Wan flipped over landing behind Grievous. The lightsabers clashed sending sparks flying, he ducked out of the way of Grievous's lightsabers, he ran towards the front of the train. Obi-Wan spotted Esinon on a train below him, he rolled out of the way of a lightsaber, slicing the side of Grievous's train. Obi-Wan saluted him as they flew away.

**A few minutes later…**

Destroyers chased them down the hallway, Esinon forced herself to keep running as laser fire continued to rain down upon them. She turned a corner spotting Anakin, he waited until they were behind a set of boxes, he used the force to move them blocking the fire. She and her Master darted into the elevator. They all walked onto the ship,

"I'll contact the fleet," Obi-Wan said, Anakin sat down in his chair,

"R2 release the docking clamp," the little astromech beeped, the engines rumbled as they took off into space. The ship shook as they dodged fire,

"Master Skywalker, I think it's time for some tricks," Esinon said as she was thrown forward in her seat.

"That's what I was thinking," he said, he turned the wheel hard sending them spinning. Blue fire intermixed with the red, the Republic trying to help. "You know we have guns, you can fire them anytime."

"I was just about to-" Obi-Wan started,

"I got it," Esinon said, getting out of her seat and to the guns. She stared through the scanner, holding, holding, she pressed down, firing. She fired again hitting one of the ships,

"Nice shot Esinon,"

"Thanks," she said, returning her concentration to the battle outside. "That ship looks like it's going to jump to hyperspace!"

"Don't worry about it," Anakin said calmly,

"What?" Obi-Wan asked,

"Trust me, Master," the ship shook again, Esinon fired back,

"Grievous's ship just jumped to hyperspace," she turned to see the Malevolence crashing into the nearby moon.

"I believe you had something to do with that," Obi-Wan said,

"All part of the plan Master," he responded as they flew back towards the Republic cruiser.

**A few days later…**

Esinon stared frustratedly at the star maps in front of her, trying to figure out possibly places General Grievous could be. After his escape from the Malevolence, no one had seen him.

"Still here Esinon?" her Master asked joining her at the map. "When was the last time you slept? Or ate for that matter."

"I'll sleep when we find Grievous." she said, rubbing her eyes, "Clone intelligence spotted him in the Balmora system, that was weeks ago, and there have been no recent sightings since the Malevolence."

"Well, unlike you, maybe he's getting some much-needed rest," Obi-Wan said,

"Excuse me General, incoming transmission from Captain Cody." Admiral Yularen said the star map disappeared, replaced with Cody.

"General Kenobi, Commander Windcaster,"

"Cody, how goes the inspections?" Obi-Wan asked,

"The tracking station in Pasti is fully operational. Captain Rex and I are preceding to the outpost in the Rishi system," he said,

"Good, report back as soon as you arrive." Master Kenobi instructed,

"Yes sir, Cody out."

"Good man that Cody," Obi-Wan remarked, "As for you, go to your quarters and get some sleep. If General Grievous even comes within a parsec of this system, we'll know about it." she wanted to argue, but conceded walking to her quarters.

**A few hours later…**

Esinon walked back to the command center, she could just sense something was off and was unable to sleep any longer. She saw Master Kenobi, Master Skywalker, and Admiral Yularen all gathered around a com pod.

"Captain Rex, Captain Rex, please respond," Admiral Yularen said,

"They should have checked in from the Rishi station hours ago," Obi-Wan said, rubbing his beard in thought. "It seems that your Captain follows orders about as well as you do."

"Maybe Cody is boring Rex with standard procedure and protocol." Anakin shot back,

"We need to work on our own boring procedure and come up with a plan to find Grievous."

"Do you think Cody and Rex are ok?" Esinon asked worriedly,

"I'm sure they're fine, Rex'll protect Cody. Admiral, let me know if you hear from them." Anakin said,

"Let's go figure out a plan."

**A few hours later...**

Esinon stared at the star maps once more, she just couldn't shake the feeling that Cody wasn't responding for a reason.

"Captain Rex come in, Captain Cody please respond," Admiral Yularen said, "Still no response Commander," she paused thinking,

"What about the all-clear? Is the base still transmitting?" she asked,

"Yes,"

"Well, if something was wrong Cody would contact us." she said, "He must have got caught up in the inspection and forgot. When they contact please tell me." she was trying to push this feeling away, but she couldn't shake it. Something was wrong, she could feel the clones in distress. She walked over to her Master,

"What's wrong?" he asked, sensing her nervousness.

"I'm sensing something, I can't shake the feeling that Cody and Rex aren't checking in for a reason. I really think they're in trouble," she said,

"I'm sure that Cody and Rex are just fine, you're senses are just a little distracted with our recent escapades and your lack of sleep,

"Ok Master," she said, she just needed to trust.

**A few hours later…**

Esinon couldn't focus on anything her senses scrambled and all over the place, she wasn't paying attention to the report Sparks was giving to her, Master Skywalker, and Master Kenobi,

"Rishi outpost has stopped transmitting!" Admiral Yularen shouted,

"Grievous, sound the invasion alarm." Esinon instructed, "Let's get the fleet underway." Esinon ran down to the hanger jumping into a gunship, the fleet pulled out of hyperspace. "Osprey, let's go pick them up."

"Yes sir," he said taking off, the door to the gunship opened revealing the demolished, flaming base, she spotted the troopers waving from a ledge below,

"Take us down, I see them," she waved out the door to the troopers, they all loaded in, "Hello guys, so how was the inspection?"

"Well, there isn't much base left to inspect," Rex said as the gunship door closed,

"I can see that," she joked, she saw two new troopers behind the two Captains. "Who are these two?"

"This is Echo and Fives," the two stood at attention,

* * *

A large worm burst from the side of a canyon, she dove out of the way as it managed to grab a clone trooper,

"Cutup!" she shouted, but it wasn't her own voices, she wasn't herself, a black-gloved hand in her eye line. Was this someone else's memory?

* * *

She fell out of the memory staring at the two troopers who were snapped at attention, it must have been one of them.

"At ease, nice to meet you. I'm Commander Windcaster." she said, "Seems you guys finally got some action out here."

"Yeah, Hevy always complained about the lack of it," Fives said, smiling sadly, Esinon could sense the loss of his friend.

"Rejoice in the loss of your friend, for now, he is part of the cosmic force. He will always be with you now." Fives and Echo nodded, They docked on the _Negotiator_,

**A few minutes later…**

"On behalf of the Republic, we thank you for your valiant service and we honor your comrades' sacrifice," Obi-Wan said fixing medals to Echo and Fives's chests.

"Your new unit will be lucky to have you," Esinon said,

"I'd be proud to fight by your side anytime, anywhere," Anakin said, the three Jedi bowed, the troopers saluting them.

"Well, we know that we have good troopers coming off of Kamino," Esinon said,

"We're sorry we didn't listen to you when you said you sensed something wrong," Obi-Wan said,

"It's ok, I'm young and my senses are still not as attuned as you Master. I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know what." she replied, "I wouldn't have even been able to even remotely sense anything without your training Master. I am truly thankful." she replied,

"Your welcome, my padawan," he said,

**Back at the Jedi Temple…**

Esinon stood at one end of the street with her Master, Anakin stood halfway between the start and finish.

"I'm still confused about what we're doing," she said,

"I have a theory, so you and I are going to race," Obi-Wan said,

"Ok…"

"Just run as fast as you possibly can," Esinon and Obi-Wan crouched down into a starting position, "On your marks, get set, go!" she took off running, Obi-Wan pulled ahead of her. She mustered up all her energy and kept running, moving faster and faster, everything around her started slowing down, her master falling behind her.

* * *

Obi-Wan's padawan pulled ahead of him, she was really moving now,

"Dart her now, Anakin!" he shouted, Anakin pointed the speed dart at Esinon as she ran past. He fired catching her speed,

"Thirty miles an hour!" he shouted back, "Faster Speedy!" Obi-Wan slowed to a stop,

"I was right," Obi-Wan said proudly, Esinon finally stopped after running back.

"How'd I do?" she panted,

"I was right, you have the gift. And at such a young age." Obi-Wan said impressed,

"What gift?" she asked still confused,

"Speed, you already have the gift of speed through the force. Usually, it takes Jedi years to master that skill and you seem to have naturally acquired it."

"Seriously?" Esinon asked, still shocked at what her master was telling her.

"Yes little one, seriously."

**A few days later…**

Esinon wandered around the clone barracks, looking for Cody, it was getting easier to tell all of them apart through the force, but in a crowd of all the same faces, it was more difficult.

"Hey, Commander!" Rex called from a circle of troopers dressed in blue, she remembered him from the battle of Christophsis and their recent escapade.

"Hey Rex!" she greeted cheerily, bounding over, getting distracted from her mission to find her Captain and go over some battle protocol as she promised.

"We're just about to play a game of sabacc, you want to join us?" he asked, waving the cards, Fives, Echo, Jesse, and Kix all looked up at her.

"I don't see why not. Sabacc sounds a lot more fun than protocol right about now." she said, sitting down, "Don't tell Cody that."

"Lips are sealed Commander," Jesse replied, zipping his lips, she grinned, grabbing her cards, hiding her sly smile behind her hand.

**A few hours later…**

"You know Rex, you're lucky you got to Fives and Echo quickly because I was about to put in a request they come to the 212th," Esinon said,

"You hear that boys? I saved you from being around her all the time." Rex joked Esinon's jaw dropped,

"Rex!" she shoved him playfully, "Then again, Ahsoka is no picnic, and I would know. I live with her, Master Skywalker calls her Snips for a reason." she said,

"Speaking of Skywalker nicknames, I hear you've earned yours," Rex said,

"I have in fact, with the recent revelation of my speed, it's been a lot of, Speedy," she replied,

"You have… speed?" Kix asked, a confused crease appearing on his brow.

"I just raced Anakin today." she paused, "He was in a speeder. I won." all the clones, except for Rex's, jaws dropped.

"Jedi can do that?" Fives asked, in awe,

"Some, yeah, Jedi have lots of different powers, just depends on what you choose to cultivate. Like Master Ti is a healer, which is something I can't do," she said,

"Is that the thing that General Ti did where the wound glows? Echo asked,

"Yes, that's an example of it. Before the war, oftentimes padawans could, if they so choose, take the path of a healer," she explained,

"I thought Jedi just all did the same thing. Like the jumping really high, and the lightsabers, and the lifting stuff." Jesse said Esinon chuckled to herself,

"No, Jedi are often split up into many factions, guardians, sentinels, and consular. It's a little different because of the war, but most of your Generals and commanders are guardians, including myself. I guess I could be classified as a sentinel since I really like building things and working with computers. Probably got it from my love of pod racing." she said,

"I never knew the Jedi were so complex," Kix remarked,

"Oh, we're just scratching the surface," she said, a grin spreading across her face.

* * *

Cody came wandering through the common room in search of his commander, he found her surrounded by a large circle of clones, explaining something, Rex got up quietly trying not to disturb her. Cody's younger brother had a huge smile on his face,

"I should have known you had something to do with this," he said with a sigh,

"Guilty. But she's teaching us now, so I mean, I kinda inadvertently did something right." Rex argued, with a very satisfied grin on his face. Cody sighed, a smile creeping onto his face,

"Oh Rex, when will you grow up?"

"Never," he said, definitely, Cody and Rex joined the continually growing crowd of clones,

"So then we all sit down for tea, and I'm like 'Master are you crazy?!', course I didn't say that out loud, because Loathsom was right there, and I had a whole ton of blasters pointed at my head!" she exclaimed, all of them listened intently as the young padawan recounted the story from her first mission.


	4. ARC troopers

**I know I normally post on Fridays, but whatever, I'm off of school rn and have more time, and I got bored of working on English lol. Anywho, Kamino here we come! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and as always, if you have time please leave a review! Thank you everyone for all the support! **

**A few months later...**

Esinon stood behind a communication pod, hard at work on her decryption algorithm. The Jedi had managed to intercept a message between Ventress and Grievous after the recent destruction of the Rishi outpost.

"Almost there, decrypting the audio now," she murmured as both Master Kenobi and Skywalker stared at the hologram.

"The clone planet of Kamino will be a dangerous target." the glitching Ventress said,

"Just make sure you hold up your half of the mission." Grievous replied, "We must stop the production of new clones if we are to win this war." Rex and Cody shared a look,

"Kamino…" Anakin murmured,

"They're going to attack our home planet."

"The Separatists are taking quite the chance even considering this." Master Kenobi said,

"With all due respect, General. If someone comes to our home, they better be carrying a big blaster." Rex said,

"I concur with Captain Rex sir. This is personal for us clones. Cody said,

"We'll make sure Kamino is secure," Esinon said,

"Rex, tell your boys in the 501st that they're going home," Anakin said,

"Yes sir," both Rex and Cody walked off,

**Tipoca City, Kamino…**

Esinon followed after Master Kenobi and Master Skywalker, as they walked out of the cruiser to meet with Master Shaak Ti and Lama Su.

"Generals Kenobi and Skywalker, welcome to Kamino." Master Ti greeted,

"Greetings Generals," Lama Su said,

"I wish our arrival wasn't under such circumstances. We believe that General Grievous is planning an attack on Kamino." Master Kenobi explained,

"But the Republic blockade is far too strong. They would not dare." Lama Su said calmly, thunder boomed overhead.

**A few minutes later…**

The Separatists had begun their attack, Anakin taking off into the sky, she looked at the map of the planet,

"Shore up our defenses," Cody said, to another clone,

"Their fleet isn't as large as I expected," Master Ti said, "Begin the airstrike." Esinon watched as debris fell to the ground outside, something wasn't right.

"Grievous seems to be sacrificing his transports to protect his command cruiser." Master Kenobi said,

"Something isn't right," Esinon said, "Even Grievous isn't this reckless." debris continued to plummet into the ocean planet below. A few more minutes of fighting passed,

"Master, I'm going to press the attack," Anakin said,

"No, Anakin, wait. It's too easy," Obi-Wan said,

"Master, the battle's up here in space now down there," he replied, as another explosion sounded,

"The debris from the destroyed ships is the key," Esinon said,

"What are you thinking?" Master Ti asked,

"I'm thinking I want to go for a swim," she replied,

"I'll do that, we don't know what's down there. Do a quick rundown of the base, and search for any possible way for the Separatists could get in." Obi-Wan said,

"Fine," she grumbled, using her speed to race through the cloning facility. She saw Fives and Echo moving in slow motion as another clone walking towards them, he looked strange with paler skin and hunched over holding an armful of blasters. She watched in slow motion as he stumbled the blasters heading towards the ground, she quickly caught them all, everything speeding back up. Echo froze for a second as Esinon appeared,

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," he muttered, shaking his head.

"Echo, Fives," the hunched over clone said excitedly,

"You remember us?" Fives asked,

"Oh, I remember all my brothers." he said smiling, "Where's Hevy? Is he here?" Fives and Echo shared a sad glance,

"There was an incident on the Rishi moon outpost," Fives said,

"He saved our lives, but gave up his own." the clone pulled out a medal holding it in his hand,

"Hevy gave you his medal?" Fives asked the clone gave a somber nod before shaking his head looking back up at the young Jedi and the two clones. "Right, 99 this is Commander Windcaster," Fives said,

"Hello," she gave a small wave with her foot, as she held the blasters in her arm.

"What are you all doing back at Kamino?" he asked,

"The Generals have received word of an impending attack here." Echo replied,

"How can I help?" 99 asked, Esinon was about to respond when her comlink twittered, she quickly handed the blasters over to Echo and answered her comlink,

"Esinon, I need you to get to the hanger now." Master Kenobi said sternly,

"I'm on it, Fives, Echo, get all the cadets into safe rooms." she instructed, "And gather any weapons and shinies you can find."

"Sir yes sir!" they responded running off, Esinon took off running skidding to a halt in the hanger.

* * *

CT-7776 helped push a stack of boxes into somewhat of a barricade, still only a cadet, but now he was being thrust into battle. He looked up to see a small girl, maybe twelve or thirteen, he couldn't tell, walking through the hanger, she looked to not be much taller than four eight, but that didn't matter. She walked with a certain confidence about her, he couldn't help but stare when all he had to look at were faces that looked exactly like his own,

"Commander," he noticed both Captain Cody and Captain Rex straighten up a bit for the young girl. She must be a Jedi, he glanced at her tan robes, with blue flaps hanging down to just about her knees. A brown and silver tube swaying slightly from her brown leather belt, a lightsaber, the weapon of choice for a Jedi. He had only seen one Jedi, Shaak Ti, to be honest, he was a little disappointed with the girl's plain appearance. With the fantastical stories of adventure that he heard from the seasoned troopers, he had expected the Jedi to look a little more… well, super.

"How's it going down here?" she asked, her head turned slightly catching CT-7776's eye, he quickly turned away.

* * *

"Good sir, we're prepared if the attack makes it's way down here," Rex said, she tore her attention back to Rex from the trooper that she sensed had been staring at her from the moment she entered the room. She would have to find him later. Her comlink twittered, interrupting her train of thought.

"Esinon, you were righ-" the transmission cut out,

"Master, Master?" he didn't answer, "Srapa, everyone get ready!" loud alarms blared throughout the base, "Somebody get me Echo and Fives!" she could hear drilling above, as clones ran past, soon the two troopers she called for came running over,

"Sir, you sent for us?"

"It's a dangerous assignment, but I think you're up to the task. I want you two on the bridge in sniper position," she said,

"Yes sir, we're on it," Fives said, as they took off,

"Get into position!" the hangar doors began to close as she could see submarine feet climbing up the structures. She jumped behind a barrier, igniting her lightsaber, a drill burst through the hanger door, blue laser fire unleashed upon their Separatist attackers. The legs swept through catching troopers in their path, she could hear shouting ringing over the blaster fire. The subs opened up, aqua droids flooding the room, more and more drills crashed through the ceiling, sending clones flying.

"Esinon! We need you up here with us!" Anakin shouted through the comlink, "7th level!"

"On my way, Commander, hold your position!" she said, taking off,

"Yes, sir,"

**A few seconds later…**

Esinon deflected blasts from oncoming aqua droids,

"There aren't enough droids here to take the city!" Obi-Wan shouted over the noise,

"They're trying to distract us," Esinon replied, flipping over a blast,

"Esinon, go protect the DNA chamber. I'll deal with Grievous, Anakin, get back to the hanger." Master Kenobi said,

"Got it," the two Jedi rook off running, Esinon disappearing in a blur of blue and brown, she sped down the hall quickly engaging in the battle that was raging throughout the city. She deflected a few blasts, the DNA room would have to wait for now. She used the force to crush droids underneath her fist, she flipped out of the way of an oncoming barrage of attacks as she tried to protect the Kaminoan guard behind her. She leaped into the air, kicking the head off of a droid and stabbing her saber through another. She landed on top of a B2, plunging her saber down, she stumbled backward heading towards the ground. Esinon landed in a B2's arm, the droid paused staring at the Jedi in its arms. She quickly stabbed a phasing hand through the droid ripping out a hunk of metal, she landed on her feet tossing the droid's heart aside and called her saber to her hand dusting herself off as the guards stared at her dumbfounded.

"I'm guessing you guys haven't seen a lot of Jedi?"

"No sir," the commander said,

"Hold position here, I've got a DNA room to protect," she said, zipping off. She dashed down the hall towards the chamber, she skidded around another corner seeing clone and droid bodies alike littering the floor, the force guided her eyes down to a clone trooper laying on the ground, his helmet a few feet away. She knelt down rolling him over, it was Colt, she placed her hand over the lightsaber scorch in his chest, red lipstick staining the side of his cheek. "Ventress," she stood up speeding to the DNA room. The blast door opened to the glowing white room with Ventress standing there her back turned,

"I was beginning to think my presence went unnoticed," she said,

"I couldn't let you leave without saying hello first," Esinon said, igniting her lightsaber. Ventress clipped the DNA pod to her belt grabbing her lightsabers and igniting them. Esinon lunged forward, Ventress flipping over her and using the force to shove the padawan into the tall case. She grunted as she hit the ground, she quickly jumped to her feet leaping towards Ventress catching her first lightsaber and jumping over the second as she tried to sweep underneath Esinon's feet. They quickly engaged in a block and attack, Esinon was simply faster managing to land a kick on Ventress's chest. She flew through the air and crashed into the ground, Ventress scrambled to her feet knowing that she needed to get out of the city with the DNA pod. "Hey! Get back here!" Esinon shouted running after Ventress, Esinon bounded forward, leaping to tackle the assassin, Ventress grabbed her arm at the last second throwing the young padawan back down the hallway.

Esinon groaned, holding her side as she struggled to get to her feet. She managed to get back up and keep running, the city was crumbling around her as she dashed out onto a platform jumping over a crashing submarine from the attack. She brought her saber down hard as Ventress flipping out of the way, she swiped one, two, three, catching Ventress's sabers. She slashed downward, the assassin blocking the attacking, Ventress managed to shove the padawan back, at an advantage being much larger. Esinon sprinted forward taking quick shots as she pushed Ventress backward towards the water, she needed to get the pod off of the assassin.

"Look! It's the Commander!" she heard a clone shout, she used her speed managing to land a kick square in Ventress's chest, she used the force to quickly call the pod into her hand. The sith apprentice screamed in rage charging forward, landing a kick to Esinon's chest repeatedly and one to her face throwing the young commander to the ground, the DNA pod flying out of her hand, clattering to the floor. Ventress called the pod towards her hand, but a clone caught it in the air as they fired up their blasters protecting Esinon. She got up quickly giving a nod of thanks and spinning her saber settling into her ready stance.

"I guess you're expecting me to surrender?" she asked,

"Yeah, I was kinda hoping." Esinon said, tiredly, "How about this? On the count of three, you put your lightsabers down and no one has to get hurt." Ventress's comlink buzzed, directing her eyes towards the sky,

"Not this time little one," she said, using the force to knock everyone to their feet as she jumped onto a racing ship, with Grievous was inside of it.

"Is everyone ok?" she asked, the soreness of the recent battle setting in. A resounding chorus of 'yes' and 'yes sir' answered her as she slowly sat up. A clone offered her his hand, helping her up.

"Thank you sir," he said, gratefully, she smiled softly,

"Thank you, for having my back. It's an honor to fight alongside you," she responded, saluting him. He returned the gesture, another day where clones and Jedi fought side by side, protecting one another, for the betterment of the galaxy.

**One hour later…**

CT-7776 grabbed the foot of a droid, pulling it to the pile that would be melted down later to be transformed into other parts. He sighed tiredly, he just wanted to rest after the taxing battle. He looked up to see the little Jedi from before coming through the hanger, joking around with two troopers in 501st blue. She threw her arms up, seemingly recounting her escapade with a certain Separatist assassin, he had witnessed it all up front, the incredible speed and power, who cares about boring appearance when you can do that? She spotted him, she quickly bid her farewells to the troopers she was with rushing over,

"You! I've been looking all over for you!" she exclaimed, he looked back and forth making sure he was actually talking to her. "Right, manners, I'm Esinon." she rambled, offering her hand, he shook it firmly,

"CT-7776," he said, she paused staring at him, she opened her mouth slightly like she was unsure what to say, he realized she wanted his name, "Cortex,"

"Nice to meet you Cortex, what unit are you with?" she asked,

"673rd,"

"So you'll be going to Master Krell, very cool. I trained with him a couple of times, he's strict but an incredible warrior," she said,

"I'm glad to hear that sir." he paused staring at the girl, she simply beamed up at him, a childlike innocence burning in her deep brown eyes.

"So how much more training do you have to go?" she asked, starting to help him pile off the wrecked droids, cutting pieces with her lightsaber when they got too big as they worked.

"A few more years sir, then I'll be able to hit the field with the boys," he said, excitedly,

"Don't let all the excitement go to your head, I say that because it goes to mine," she said, giggling to herself, Cortex couldn't help but smile to himself as she got carried away in stories of battles, tales of glory, adventure, and excitement. The stories were even completed with sound effects and elaborate hand motions, the work went ten times faster with her resounding chorus of stories and childish wonder.


	5. Dooku Captured and the Gungan General

**Hello everyone! I'm back, with another chapter, thank you again for all the support. I just hope this can help be a little bit of distraction from everything that's going on in the world, writing this story is certainly helping to make quarantine a lot easier. I just want to remind everyone that we'll get through this together! As long as we're there for each other. **

**A few days later…**

Obi-Wan sat at the table eating breakfast, Ahsoka stifled a yawn,

"Where's Esinon?"

"She said she was going to shower after our run, but now… she's taking forever." Obi-Wan muttered, the young padawan came speeding down the hall struggling to finish her second braid.

"Hi, sorry I'm late!" she said pulling her hair through the hair tie.

"What took you so long?" Anakin asked, setting a plate down in front of her and Ahsoka.

"I got… distracted," she mumbled, not even sitting down, starting to shove food in her mouth. "Alright, I have eaten breakfast and now I gotta go." Esinon started to leave the room,

"Esinon Upahara, freeze," Obi-Wan said firmly, Esinon and Anakin froze simultaneously. Esinon gave Anakin a confused look of having the same reaction to hearing a middle name come out of Obi-Wan's mouth. "You are gonna sit and eat breakfast because we're scheduled to ship out later today and I don't want you complaining about being hungry."

"Dang it, I had stuff I wanted to do today," Esinon said grumpily, sitting down at the table,

"Like what?" Ahsoka asked,

"Xavier and I were gonna play bolo-ball today, this has been the first day in months that Xavier and I haven't had missions." she murmured, pushing her food into a pile.

"Sorry Esinon," Obi-Wan said putting his plate in the sink, "maybe next time," he ruffled her hair on the way out. She looked up at Anakin,

"Something tells me that you've heard him say your middle name before."

"Yeah, I used to be his padawan. I was very well versed in the use of the middle name." Anakin said, seeming proud of himself, "He acts like a dad,"

"My dad used to do it all the time, I don't think it gets worse then Upahara."

"It does, Anakin Isaiah. You don't know the meaning of fear until you hear from across the room, Anakin Isaiah! With the amount of "stupid" thing that I do in a week, I don't know what he could be mad about."

"I understand that more than you know," Esinon said placing her plate in the sink.

"Hey, no trying to take my spot as the stupid padawan." he joked, Esinon rolled her eyes. She waved goodbye to Anakin and Ahsoka before walking out of the room. She met her master in the hanger as they boarded the large aircraft. "So what's our mission?"

**A few minutes later…**

"You want me to do what?" Esinon asked confused,

"I want you to go into the Separatist warship, see if you can find Dooku. You're gonna get captured, but I'll be in to come fetch you." Obi-Wan said, motioning to a few spots on the map.

"How?"

"We're gonna give you some special armor, so they'll shoot you and then capture you. I think I'm gonna call it prisoner," he stated plainly.

"And how come you can't do this?" she asked, feeling nervous.

"Because I'm the master and you're the student." he responded, "You'll be fine. The Separatists won't kill a Jedi that they've captured, especially when you're so young. Use the force to listen in on all the conversations that go on around your cell. You'll be fine." he patted her shoulder, "Now put that armor on and get ready to go onto the Separatist warship." Esinon sighed, rubbing her hands anxiously.

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon snuck down the hallways of the warship, she needed to get captured but it needed to look convincing. She plastered her back to the wall as some droids walked past. She breathed out, as she moved down further, she finally ran into some droids. She held up her hands, hoping not to get shot.

"I surrender," she said, the droids pulled her hands behind her back, cuffing her. They grabbed her lightsaber off her belt. They led her down to the detention block, they uncuffed her and shoved her into the cell. The droids sounded a mechanical laugh as the doors closed. "Bēvakūpha droids." She looked around the red and gray cell. She sat down on the ground, she concentrated on hearing the voices outside. Most of the sounds of droids filled her ears, she searched the ship with her mind and then she heard a familiar voice.

"A Jedi?"

"Dooku," she whispered, opening her eyes. He was on the ship, she closed her eyes again,

"Yes sir, it's a youngling." the droid responded,

"Excellent, I will interrogate the Jedi later," he said,

"I'm in trouble," she mumbled,

**A few days later…**

Esinon sat in her cell, where was Obi-Wan? He was supposed to have come and gotten her by now. She heard footsteps coming towards her door, she leaped up into the rafters wedging her hands and feet, tensed to pounce on whoever came through the door. A man walked through the door, it was dark in the cell and she couldn't tell who it was. She dropped from the ceiling preparing to tackle her opponent. A blue lightsaber

landed at her neck, illuminating the face of her master.

"It's you," she said excitedly, Obi-Wan replaced his saber on her belt.

"This is how you thank me for rescuing you? Pounce on me for the ceiling." he joked,

"In my defense this cell is dark, and it's kinda hard without a-" he held up her lightsaber, "lightsaber, thank you."

"Did you find Dooku?" he asked, opening the blast door.

"Yes, he's here, had to avoid a lot of interrogations. Played younger than I actually am."

"Was your capture convincing?"

"Very. After I was captured, I listened in. And then waited very patiently for you to come get me as promised." she retorted, they walked through the halls of the frigate. Obi-Wan opened another set of blast doors to where Dooku was sitting in meditation.

"Surprise, surprise" Esinon and Obi-Wan ignited their lightsabers,

"If it isn't Count Dooku," Obi-Wan said,

"Obi-Wan Kenobi, I thought I sensed an unpleasant disturbance in the force. I see you've freed young Windcaster, where might she be if you weren't always around to rescue her?" loud explosions shook the ship,

"Sir a Jedi cruiser is attacking!" a droid over the coms yelled,

"Your ship is surrounded Count, surrender." her Master said,

"Republic troops are boarding as we speak," Esinon said, breaking into her ready stance.

"Jedi fools," Count Dooku growled, the floor opened up and he fell through. Esinon ran over to the opening,

"Meet you at the hanger!" she shouted, jumping into the opening,

"Esinon!" she heard her master yell, no turning back now. She slid down the slide quickly, Dooku not far in front of her. He turned, holding out his hand zapping lightning at her. She held up her lightsaber, struggling to hold out, her saber drawing closer to her face. Her eyes were blinded by the bright light, she landed on a platform splitting the slide into two seperate sections. She looked down each one, Dooku was nowhere to be found. Esinon hopped down the right one, she landed in a crouch. She spotted a Separatist ship firing its engines.

"Wait for me!" she shouted as it began to take off, she managed to muster up some speed, jumping onto the catwalk of the ship as it closed. She got into the driver's seat, her master hated flying.

"I thought you were following Dooku."

"I said I'd meet you in the hanger, and I did," she mumbled, taking off. "Hang on!" she tilted the ship to the side, slipping under the blast doors. They took off into space, tailing Dooku's ship.

"Anakin, Dooku managed to escape again. We could use some reinforcements. Follow us on what ships you can round up."

"We'll get there as soon as we can," Anakin responded, Esinon steered the ship as Obi-Wan fired, they had the advantage of being behind the Separatist ships. Soon Obi-Wan fired one last shot, it hit the side of Dooku's ship sending him plummeting towards the planet below.

"That was easy," Esinon said,

"Lucky for you I'm an excellent shot," he replied, the Separatist fighters turned around and began firing at them,

"Alright excellent shot, now would be a good time."

"I'm on it," he said, smashing his thumbs down on the blaster buttons. The vulture droids fired back, hitting the side of their ship, Esinon was thrown forward in her seat. She pulled up on the throttle hard,

"Lucky for you, I've been taking flying lessons from Master Skywalker," she grunted, they shot through the planet's atmosphere, she pulled hard on the throttle trying to get the shuttle to even out, the landing prongs came out, as the shuttle dug itself into the ground, the ship spun around until they crashed into a rock.

"Are you ok?" Obi-Wan asked, waving the smoke out of his face, Esinon coughed,

"Yeah I'm fine," the catwalk lowered, allowing them to walk out, Obi-Wan looked at their wrecked ship.

"Well, it looks salvageable. Just please listen to me, and look before you leap. Being reckless only costs us valuable time." She turned to see Dooku's ship a few hundred meters away,

"Yes, Master,"

"Dooku," they walked up to the ship, a blinking light flashed from the side. A small button sat on the side of the ship,

"What's this? A homing beacon?" he tapped it,

"The distinguished Count is waiting for help," Esinon said, pulling at the beacon it not budging from the side of the ship.

"He can't be far off," Obi-Wan bent down looking at his engine, "His engines damaged, he's not going anywhere without it." Esinon ignited her lightsaber,

"Not without a homing beacon." She slashed her saber through the beacon, it falling to the ground. Obi-Wan surveyed the surroundings, a terrain of rocks and crystals.

"There," he pointed out a cave, "Caves are a good start," Esinon replaced her saber on her belt and followed after him into the cave. They stood at the mouth of the cave, Esinon could sense the presence of many lifeforms inside.

"Strange…" she murmured,

"You sense it too, there are many lifeforms inside. Tread lightly," he instructed, she nodded,

"I sense Dooku is one of them," she said, feeling the coldness. Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber, illuminating the dark cave,

"Well, let's try and get him before something else does," he said, Esinon ignited her own saber as they walked into the cave. Esinon was struggling to keep sensing Dooku's force signature, with the other creatures inside the cave. A rumbling echoed through the cave,

"Did you hear that?" she whispered, rock crumbled in the distance, Obi-Wan and Esinon fell back to back, they looked up, rocks falling down upon them.

"Run!" her master shouted, Esinon scrambled trying to get out of the way, the rocks fell on top of her, she used the force to hold them in a tent above her. She shoved a rock out, making a hole for her to squeeze through.

"Master? Master!" she shouted, she pulled at the rocks scraping her fingers trying to pull the rocks away. "Can you hear me?!" she continued to pull. Some more rocks started to fall, she flipped out of the way, her hand going for her lightsaber. She felt nothing there, her saber was gone,

"Esinon, when I say to run. Run." she sighed in relief as her Master walked out of the darkness,

"Master! Your alive!" he looked at her belt noticing the missing lightsaber,

"Where's your lightsaber?"

"It got knocked out of my hand… ya know when the rocks fell."

"Your lightsaber was knocked out of your hand by a rock?" he asked sarcastically, Esinon began moving around the rocks looking for her lightsaber,

"Yes," she said truthfully, "Can you shed a little light please?" Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber, it flickered for a moment before shutting off.

"It was working just a minute ago," he muttered,

"Maybe it was hit by a rock," she joked tossing a small stone at him. A low growl echoed throughout the cave, Esinon looked up shifting her eyes trying to see in the darkness. She spotted a large creature hanging from the ceiling, "please tell me that's just my eyes playing tricks on me."

"This is going to be interesting," The gundark leaped down from the ceiling attacking, she dove out of the way, she jumped up onto a ledge. She tried to muster up her speed as she ran away from the gundark, "jump in any time!"

"I think you're doing just fine, he seems to like you," he said calmly, Esinon leaped down from the cliff, tucking into a roll,

"Yeah, lucky me!" she shouted, running out of the way, "This isn't as fun as it looks."

"Think of it as a training exercise," he said, tapping his saber on the palm of his hand. She leaped into the air, continuing to run, "I thought gundarks only lived on Vanqor,"

"Then this must be Vanqor!" she yelled flipping behind her master, she kept running, the gundark grabbed her foot, she grappled at the rocks, struggling, Obi-Wan grabbed her hand pulling her towards him, "This has got to be the father of all gundarks," she grunted,

"Hang on, I got ya," she held onto his wrist, he used his free hand to throw a rock into the gundark. He helped Esinon to her feet, they both used the force to throw more rocks, knocking the gundark unconscious.

"Let's find a way out of here," Esinon said, putting her hands on her knees, panting. He nodded as they made their way to the mouth of the cave, the two Jedi used the force to start removing the rocks blocking their exits. Another growl echoed through the cave again,

"Sounds like another gundark," she grunted under the weight of the rock, Obi-Wan came to help her,

"It's too far away to worry about it right now," they threw the rock away,

"It's not going to stay far away," she said, they picked up another rock together, this one was enormous, they set it down a little too hard. The ground began cracking, green gas hissed from below. "New problem," she shielded her face, she started coughing, choking on the gas that was filling her lungs.

"Let's get out of here fast," Obi-Wan said pulling at the rocks, Esinon followed his lead, her fingers began to bleed as she pulled, she could barely breathe,

"I can't breathe," she sputtered, collapsing to her stomach trying to get under the gas.

"Come on, just a little bit more." Obi-Wan coughed, pulling another rock away. Esinon's breath became ragged as she struggled for more air. She heard a rumbling outside the cave, the rocks exploded away from them, fresh air rushing into the cave. Esinon took a deep breath refilling her lungs,

"What was that?" she coughed, waving the dust out of her face.

"I don't know," her master said,

"Master!" Anakin called into the dust as it settled, Obi-Wan hurried over to Esinon who was struggling to catch her breath,

"You ok?" he asked quietly, she nodded her head, taking a few deep breaths.

"Looks like I got here just in time," Anakin said, crossing his arms. "You seriously got into some trouble,"

"Trouble? We were simply searching for Count Dooku, we had the situation under control." Obi-Wan interjected,

"Ok, so which part of the situation was under control?" Anakin asked, "the blocked entrance, poisonous gas, or that gundark behind you?"

"Gundark?" Obi-Wan asked turning around,

"Oh yeah, the one that was too far away to worry about," Esinon grumbled, the gundark came closer and closer,

"Block that exit," Anakin instructed his troopers, they took aim firing at the rocks on the ceiling, they fell from the ceiling, sealing the gundark in.

"Now we still have Dooku to deal with," Obi-Wan said, Esinon followed after him as he began to walk.

"You let him get away?" Anakin asked in surprise,

"Well you try crash landing, almost dying in a rockslide, then almost dying again due to that crazed gundark in there, and then almost dying again because there's gas in that stupid cave." Esinon shot back,

"Geez Speedy, sorry," Anakin mumbled, Esinon sighed walking back to the ship.

**A few minutes later...**

"We're sending you to Florum, a band of pirates has Dooku in custody. A pair of Senators is coming with the ransom, simply figure out if the pirates have Dooku and contact us back." Master Windu said, "Oh, I almost forgot, the only stipulation is that you arrive unarmed."

"Unarmed? Esinon asked,

"We know very little about these pirates, we may be walking blindly into what could very well be a hostile situation." her master commented,

"We can't let Dooku slip through our fingers again, report back as soon as you arrive." Master Windu said the transmission ended.

"Well, this should be interesting, come Esinon, let's go," Obi-Wan said,

"Coming Master," she said following after him, "Have you ever been to Florum?"

"No, but stay sharp, we don't know what we're walking into," he responded, they got into a ship and flew down to the planet's surface. The catwalk touched the ground and the two Jedi walked out to be met by a large group of Weequay, blaster clicked as they met the one in the middle. He shoved a box that whirred and clicked in their faces, scanning their bodies for weapons. Esinon lifted her arms as he silently searched each Jedi after he finally was satisfied, he spoke,

"Follow me." They followed him into the large structure, loud percussive music played as Weequays and other species danced and drank. Obi-Wan kept his padawan close, not wanting the young girl to get mixed up in all this. Everyone stared at the Jedi, murmuring running through the crowd. A Weequay with a hat on top of his head sat at, he must have been the leader, Hondo Ohnaka.

"Gentleman, little lady," he said, not rising from his seat. "Can I offer you something to drink?" he drank from his own cup,

"No thank you," Her master said politely, Hondo shoved a glass over to him. The green liquid sloshed over spilling some on the table, Esinon wrinkled her nose, it stunk of rocket fuel.

"Congratulations on your capture of Count Dooku, very impressive."

"Yes, it was, eh, even a Sith lord is no match for my warriors!" Esinon glanced over at two passed out Weequay,

"Some warriors," she muttered,

"He put up quite a fight, blasters, cannons, that glowy thing." Hondo slammed his drink down spilling it everywhere, "Whom, whoosh," he mimicked the noise,

"Do you mean a lightsaber?" Obi-Wan asked,

"That's it, and I don't need to tell you, those things can do some damage." Esinon got distracted by a red monkey-lizard jumping down, her lightsaber in his hand, "Carved up some of my best men before I could get the jump on him."

"My lightsaber!" she exclaimed, calling her saber into her hand, the monkey-lizard squealed, every blaster in the room coming to rest on her. The monkey ran over snatching it out of her hand,

"We have no interest in disagreeing with you. All we want to do is confirm you have Count Dooku and we'll go." Esinon couldn't remove her eyes from her lightsaber in the nasty hands of that monkey-lizard.

"I will arrange a meeting," Hondo replied,

**A few minutes later…**

A weequay led them down a hallway past rows of cells, he finally stopped in front of one. Esinon could already sense Count Dooku inside, the door opened to a suspended Dooku.

"Look how the mighty Sith Lord has fallen," Esinon walked around the back of Dooku,

"This place suits you Count, it stinks, just like you," Esinon said, placing her hands on her hips.

"It wasn't long ago you were in similar surroundings on my ship," Dooku said,

"Yeah but I'm free now, and now you've been captured by Weequay," she said, raising an eyebrow.

"I am confident the situation will soon rectify itself," Dooku said calmly,

"Soon you will be brought to trial before the Senate and most likely spend a long time in a cell just like this one."

"Oh, my naive young Jedi. You must be overly optimistic if you think these Weequayans plan to let you leave this planet." Esinon chuckled to herself,

"They're planet-hopping thieves looking for a quick score. They have no interest in picking a fight with Jedi."

"They are devious and deceitful and most importantly stupid," Dooku said,

"It's a wonder you don't get along with them," Obi-Wan said, Esinon started to walk out of the cell, "You have so much in common."

"You underestimate them at your own peril, Kenobi."

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon and Obi-Wan walked through an indoor weequay market,

"I don't know about you, but I could use some sleep," she said with a yawn,

"I know you look a little worse for wear, but stay on your toes, this could still be a trap."

"I'm still a little worried about Dooku," Esinon said,

"I think it should be these pirates we should be worried about," Obi-Wan said, Esinon turned to see two Weequay wrestling each other to the ground.

"Jedi!" a weequay called, "Now that you have completed your business, we invite you to join us in the grand hall for a banquet. A true Weequayan banquet is not to be missed." Esinon and Obi-Wan glanced at each other sharing a knowing look.

**A few minutes later…**

"No questions they have Dooku," Obi-Wan said, Esinon walked into the cockpit. She could see Master Windu, Chancellor Palpatine, Senator Kharrus and Representative Binks standing in the hologram. "Send the ransom."

"Is he being securely held?" Palpatine asked, Esinon still felt uneasy around the presence of the chancellor, there was something off about him.

"Yes, and he's quite unhappy about it," Obi-Wan replied, Esinon snapped back from her own thoughts to reality,

"Senator Kharrus and Representative Binks will dispatch immediately." the two Jedi walked back into the pirates' fortress, hoping to please them by joining the party. They sat down at a bar,

"This is kinda like the banquets on Endor, except there was less drinking…" a weequayan danced past on top of the bar, "and less dancing on tables," she muttered, Obi-Wan shook his head,

"How do you remember so much of Endor? You were two when we found you." Obi-Wan said,

"The force works in mysterious ways." Hondo walked over putting his arms around the Jedi.

"Now, can I persuade you to join us for a drink? It's tradition, in the name of friendship."

"Alright, nothing too strong, and water for the little one," Obi-Wan said,

"Bring our guests some refreshments!" Hondo called, two drinks were set in front of them, she stared at the glass full of swimming green liquid.

_This doesn't look like water, _she said telepathically,

_I saw the waiter put some sort of powder in the drinks. Switch with the person next to you when Hondo looks away. _

_Ok, but I don't want to drink anything they offer us. It reeks of rocket fuel._

_Just a little sip, we need to get Dooku._

_Fine. _

"To a successful transaction," Hondo said raising his cup. The room cheered raising their glasses, Esinon used the force to toss her glass into the hand of the person next to her, catching their glass in her hand.

"To new friends of the Republic," Obi-Wan said raising his own glass,

"Enjoy your evening," Hondo said, she and Obi-Wan tapped glasses before drinking, the people who now had their glasses collapsed to the ground.

"I still don't get it," Esinon said,

"Get what?" Obi-Wan asked,

"How could a band of drunken pirates catch Dooku when we couldn't?"

"Maybe there's a lesson to be learned here," Obi-Wan said,

"I still don't get it."

"It reminds us to be humble, and never too proud, plus to accept a gift when one comes our way. Cheer up Esinon, we'll have Dooku soon and we'll be one step closer to ending the war."

"Well, too unexpected gifts," she said raising her glass,

"Hear, hear," they tapped glasses, a groan came from each side of the Jedi, the people they had switched glasses with collapsing to the floor. Another end to a successful day, with Dooku soon to be released into their custody, the tide of the war would change. Tipping it towards Republic victory.

**The next morning…**

Esinon slowly opened her eyes, she panicked for a second not seeing the surroundings of her quarters, rather the walls of a cell. She noticed her Master,

"Master, what happened?"

"I guess that Pirate Brew was a little stronger than we thought," he said looking at the force inhibitors around his wrists, Esinon glanced down at her own.

"I only took a sip, as you asked." She defended,

"We were obviously drugged, calm down," he said,

"But, why would they risk losing the ransom?" Esinon asked,

"It seems the deal has changed, they must be trying to triple their payday."

"Well this is certainly frustrating, I thought we were nice to the pirates. The extremely drunk and smelly pirates," she grumbled,

"A shrewd observation, young padawan." she heard a voice say in the darkness, the two Jedi whipped around to see Dooku in a cell along with them.

"And I thought this day couldn't get any worse." Esinon huffed,

"I warned you these pirates were devious. You will notice that our shackles are bound together, I have tried to separate us. To no avail." Esinon glanced down at the force inhibitor around her waist. "And I suppose you two will devise a brilliant strategy to get us off this Godforsaken planet?"

"Yes!" the two Jedi shouted frustratedly,

"Excellent."

**A few hours later…**

"I've run out of ideas," Esinon mumbled, after running through different plans in her head, they all ended with an imaginary Hondo capturing them and they were sold to the Separatists. Dooku walked over to the door, dragging the two Jedi with him, they all stumbled into a cluster,

"Ow," Obi-Wan mumbled, as Dooku's sharp elbow rammed him in the side. Dooku stretched out his hand using the force to draw a plate of food towards them.

"I'm probably as hungry as you are, but don't you think our priority should be to escape first, eat second?" Esinon asked,

"Do control your protege's insolence so I can concentrate," Dooku grumbled, the plate dropped, the knife coming towards them now.

"Esinon," Obi-Wan said in a stern tone,

"What?" she asked snappily,

"Control your insolence. The Count is concentrating," he said sarcastically, he got the knife into the slot to open the door. It clicked allowing the inmates out,

"Well done, if I do say so myself," Dooku said,

"Most impressive," Obi-Wan said following him out, Esinon quickened her pace two keep up with the two older men. They crept down the hallway for a while,

"We do know where we're going right?" she asked quietly,

"Hush Esinon," Obi-Wan scolded, she knew her master was all jokes right now just to annoy the Count. "Do we know where we're going?" Dooku smashed his hands over a weequay in their way, kneeing him in the stomach.

"Quiet," he reprimanded, Esinon searched the weequay's belt, "I was brought this way when I was captured."

"I found a key card," she said,

"This is the way to the hanger," Dooku said, Esinon placed the keycard in the slot,

"But do you have a plan for when we get there?" she asked,

"Quiet padawan," Dooku grumbled, the blast door opened, showing a large group of weequay.

"That looks very safe," Esinon said sarcastically, another group of weequay came around the corner.

"Hold it right there Jedi." she sighed, about twenty blasters pointed at them. Their escape plan was foiled for now.

**A few minutes later…**

They all stood back to back, bound together, Hondo walking around them.

"What were we thinking? Following a sith lord? What to do, what to do, what to do," he said, "I don't want to kill you, per se. In fact, you all seem like decent people, even you Count. This is just business, and once I get my money, we can go back to being friends."

'_We never were.' _She thought to herself, peeking around the side of her master to get a look at Hondo.

"It's simple, really. Now try not to complicate things by breaking out again." they all left the room, as soon as Hondo was out of earshot, Obi-Wan spoke,

"We have to get out of here before the Republic arrives with the ransom." the trio started to creep through the door.

"For once I agree with you," Dooku said,

"Esinon, you're up, use your training," Obi-Wan said stepping aside for his padawan to get to the door, she reached out her hand looking into the eyes of the Weequay guard.

"You do not want to stand guard," she said calmly, waving her hand gently.

"I do not want to stand guard," he repeated,

"You want to deactivate the cell bars and go out drinking," she said firmly,

"I want to deactivate the cell bars and go out drinking." he pressed the button on the cell, leaving them alone.

"Very good Esinon," Obi-Wan said proudly, rubbing it in the Count's face, Esinon smiled. That was the first time she had used the Jedi mind trick in the field.

"Yes, most impressive Padawan Windcaster." Dooku sounded half sincere. They slunk down the hall for a few minutes, Esinon taking the lead being the fastest of the three. Obi-Wan struggled, pulling Dooku along,

"Oh hurry it up Dooku," he grumbled, he sensed someone coming, he pushed Dooku behind a stack of boxes, Esinon was thrown on top of them by the force of their movement. She quickly got to her feet, peeking around the boxes, after the coast was clear, they continued.

"You should be more patient Master after all the Count is not as young as the two of us, so he can't move as fast." Esinon pointed out,

"I suppose you're right," Obi-Wan said glancing at the Count,

"I would kill both of you right now if I did not have to drag your bodies behind me." Dooku snapped,

**A few minutes later…**

They sprinted down the hall, being chased by an ever-growing group of Weequay. Esinon was starting to grow frustrated, she would be able to get all of them out of there if she could use her speed but with the ties around their waist… Dooku used the force to throw a bunch of boxes down in their path. She saw a door, she used the force to kick it down, the sheer force of the kick sent to the twelve-year-old flying forward dragging Dooku and her master with. They all collapsed onto the ground,

"We just need to get over that wall," Obi-Wan said,

"Let's go!" Esinon shouted, getting to her feet, pulling ahead again using a bit of her speed, she grabbed a pole running towards the balcony, she wedged it launching them to the other side. She grabbed onto the wall on the other side, Obi-Wan and Dooku dragged her down, leaving only her fingertips hanging on. She grunted trying to use the force to pull them over, she could hear blaster fire raining down on them. She grappled at the edge, drawing her torso further up, she was dragged back down as the weight increased again. "What's going on down there!" she kicked her feet against the wall trying to get up and over, a twelve-year-old was now relying on the force for strength to pull two men twice her weight over a wall, escaping from pirates. "You guys are too heavy. I can't…" she grunted. Her fingers were slipping as she desperately tried to climb, Hondo stood above her with two other weequay, tapping his foot annoyedly,

"I guess this means we won't be friends."

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon sat down on the ground, she yawned tiredly, trying to climb over that wall had absolutely worn her out.

"We have to find a way out of here before Senator Kharrus and Jar Jar get here. We'll look like fools." Obi-Wan remarked the blast doors opened to a band of three weequay,

"You two, come with us," he said motioning to Esinon and Obi-Wan, the two Jedi were dragged out of the cell into the grand hall and suspended from the ceiling in front of a lot of laughing people. She sighed,

"I take it that the Republic didn't arrive with the ransom."

"Ahh your Republic obviously didn't want the Sith lord," Hondo said,

"They didn't show?" Obi-Wan asked,

"Oh, oh, they did… with a huge army that they thought would get the better of me! Hondo!"

"That can't be right," Esinon said,

"Are you calling me a liar?" Hondo asked, accusatory,

"No-" Hondo cut her off,

"You refuse my hospitality, you don't wait in your cell, and now you insult me?!" he asked in a fit of rage.

"I didn't say anything! I think you guys are great pirates!" she said, Hondo pulled out a remote from his pocket.

"I do like you Mini Kenobi, but you and your Master have crossed Hondo," he pressed the button sending electricity surging into their bodies. She screamed in pain, every nerve in her body screaming along with her. The lights went out, dropping the two Jedi to the ground. Obi-Wan crawled over to his padawan,

"Are you alright?" she panted, coughing slightly from all the yelling.

"I'll be fine," she said, Obi-Wan helped her to her feet.

"What happened to the power? I was having fun!" Hondo yelled, Obi-Wan flipped out over the bar grabbing Hondo in a chokehold, he grabbed his lightsaber from Hondo's belt placing it to his neck. Esinon flipped out over the bar as well, calling her saber. She stood next to Hondo, lightsaber ignited. They started to back up towards the door,

"What chance do you really have Jedi? Now let me go, and I might let you live."

"Approach us, and I'll french fry him," Esinon growled, they heard the whirring of engines behind them, the two Jedi turned to see two pirate tanks coming towards them.

"Looks like your forces were destroyed Jedi," Hondo said, relieved at the sight of his tanks.

"Esi! Obi!" Jar Jar yelled popping out of the tank,

"Representative Binks?" she asked confused,

"Mesa has arrived with the spicen!" he announced happily,

"Excellent Jar Jar," Obi-Wan said, "Assuming the pirates still have Count Dooku to trade." a ship flew overhead, "Well, that answers that question. The two Jedi walked over to the ship, still holding Hondo in a defensive position. "Commander, start the engines, please."

"So what now Jedi? You're going to arrest me?" Hondo asked,

"No," Obi-Wan released him, "Esinon, stand down." she obeyed, placing her saber back on her belt. "You have nothing we want Captain and since we are no longer prisoners, you have no bargaining power."

"Yousa was in bombad trouble? Mesa rescued you!" Jar Jar cheered,

"Not exactly Representative," Esinon said,

"Yousa can call me Jar Jar, Esi," he responded,

"Ok Jar Jar,"

"Let's leave on even terms," Obi-Wan said climbing onto the catwalk of the shop. As soon as Esinon and Jar Jar got onto the catwalk, the weequayans charged, the three clone troopers broke into a defensive stance,

"Hold! Hold!" Hondo shouted getting in between the two groups, "Jedi, after everything, you're just going to walk away?"

"We don't have a quarrel with you," Obi-Wan said,

"Plus Jedi don't do the whole revenge thing." Esinon finished,

"Indeed? Very honorable, Master Jedi,"

"Oh Captain, you'll find that Count Dooku does not share our ideals… and he now knows where you live." Obi-Wan said Esinon sat down in the pilot's seat taking off.

**A few days later…**

Esinon skidded around the corner losing her footing landing on her bottom in front of her master in the gardens.

"I told you if you don't slow down you'll fall," he said not looking up from his book. She rubbed her sore bottom,

"I know, I know, I just got excited," she said, jumping to her feet.

"About what?" he inquired setting his book down,

"So Master Skywalker, Ahsoka, and I have been working on my speed and I've hit Mach one. So I thought after our little mishap with the pirates, there must be a way to escape more easily and I thought the easiest way to get out of somewhere would be to just go straight through the walls."

"Ok, yes that would be the easiest way out of somewhere, but how would you? And how does this relate to your speed?"

"I'm getting to that, I hypothesize that if I vibrate my molecules at the frequency of air, it would allow me to pass through solid matter. I call it "phasing." Esinon said adding jazz hands at the end,

"Interesting theory, have you tested it?" he asked,

"I just came to ask you if you would help me. I don't know if this will actually work, and it could be dangerous if I come halfway out of the phase." she looked like she was about to run off, "right, patience." she mumbled,

"Good remembering, come on to the speed lab," Obi-Wan said, a few minutes later the two Jedi made it to the speed lab, a new addition to the temple for the Jedi with speed to be able to train without wearing the floor out. "So how does this whole phasing thing work?"

"In theory, if I vibrate my molecules at the frequency of air, I'll be able to pass through that wall," she said, pointing at a wooden wall in the middle of the room. "But I decided to start with something smaller.'' She picked up a small wooden block. "I'm gonna warm up some speed." she took off speeding around the track, barely visible to the naked eye, simply a streak of brown and blue. She skidded to a halt, holding up her hand, she closed her eyes, focusing all her speed into her hand. It started to vibrate slightly, shifting in and out of focus, "Come on, come on," she mumbled trying again, it began to vibrate consistently, Obi-Wan held out of the block to her, she moved her hand through it. Obi-Wan marveled at the feat that was in front of him, she pulled her hand out.

"Go big or go home," he said, she grinned taking off onto the track, she came out, phasing but she hit the wall, flying backward. She gracefully landed on her feet after executing a flip, holding her head,

"Ow," she grumbled, she took off running again, preparing to make another attempt. She ran into the wall again, her phase not staying consistent, a few hours of attempts and a new collection of bruises littering her body she finally took a break. "I don't get why I can't get through."

"You're thinking about it too much. You need to let go and not try as hard, don't focus on getting through the wall, think about the feeling of freedom when you run." Obi-Wan said,

"Alright," she hopped to her feet to try again.

"One more try, we're late for dinner." Esinon nodded, realizing her own hunger. Ever since she had gotten speed she had always been hungry, she had meant to ask some of the healers. She would do it after supper, she took off running around the track, she focused on freedom, freedom, freedom, she closed her eyes running straight at the wall. This time she didn't hit anything, she stopped opening her eyes patting herself over in shock, everything was still there.

"I did it!" she cheered excitedly, jumping high in the air.

"That a girl!" Obi-Wan said, proud of his padawan for learning a brand new skill, they would have to add that to the list of speedster skills.

"Now come on, Anakin will never let me hear the end of it if we're any later," he said,

"I'm really hungry," Esinon said, following after her master.

**Later that night…**

Esinon had finished all of her studies and meditation, she walked down the hallway towards the healers. She walked inside to see Master Allie cleaning up a few things, with Barris Offee who was helping her. Master Allie looked up at her,

"Hello Esinon, what can we help you with?"

"Hi, I have a question."

"Anything, Barris can you please make sure the cabinet is organized." Master Allie asked handing a stack of towels to Barris,

"Yes Master," she said politely,

"Recently I have been able to use the ability of speed, but I'm always hungry. I was wondering if the two are related," she said,

"I guess no one told you, as your speed grows, so does your metabolism. You need to consume about…" Master Allie did some quick math in her head account for Esinon's size. "8,000 calories."

"O-ok, how do I get that many when I'm on missions?" Esinon asked, slightly worried about passing out from low blood sugar.

"We have a special recipe for the Jedi with speed, I'll go get it." Master Allie disappeared for a moment, but then returned with a data card. "Just make the bars from these recipes, they're worth about 1,000 calories each. Just don't let other people eat them, their metabolism can't handle it." Master Allie said Esinon took the card gratefully,

"Thank you,"

"Anytime,"

**Upahara is actually Ewok for gift, little fun fact. Also, I have no idea if Anakin's middle name is Isaiah, it's probably not, but Anakin Isaiah is catchy, anyways, leave a review if you have time please and thank you! **


	6. Jedi Crash and Defenders of Peace

**Hello everyone! I hope you all are doing well, I'm out of school until April 7th so I have more time to write, so I've decided to update on Tuesdays and Fridays. Thank you again for all the support! Any and all reviews are greatly appreciated, they make me very happy! :) Alright, let's get this show on the road. **

**A few months later…**

Obi-Wan loaded a few more things into the ship, he placed his hands on his hips satisfied. Hopefully, Esinon would be surprised, it was extremely early, and waking up his padawan wasn't going to be easy. He walked back down the halls of the temple to the apartment, he knocked on the door of Esinon's room,

"Esinon," he called quietly as to not wake Anakin and Ahsoka. He opened the door, "Esinon, it's time to wake up."

"Am I late?" she asked panickedly, she rolled out of bed landing on the floor,

"No, you're not late. But we're going somewhere and we have to go before the council finds something else for me to do." he said unraveling the blanket from around her, "Get ready and meet me in the hangar."

"Ok," she said with a yawn, stretching her arms above her head. Esinon got dressed quickly, pulling a tunic over her head, adjusting the tabards in her belt and walking sleepily to the hanger, she dragged her feet, this was really early, a few hours earlier than when she would normally for meditation. She saw a ship that's engines were idling, she assumed that was the one that her Master was inside of. She climbed into the ship,

"Good morning Esinon."

"Good morning Master, where are we going?" She asked sleepily,

"It's a surprise," he said as she sat down in the co - pilot's seat, Obi-Wan tossed a blanket over his barely awake padawan. "Now go back to sleep." he instructed,

"We're not going to do meditation?" she asked, snuggling under the blanket.

"You would just fall asleep anyway," he said, getting into the pilot's seat. He heard a soft snore in response, "That's what I thought." he pulled the ship out of the hanger.

**A few hours later…**

Esinon stirred in her sleep, she finally opened her eyes, forgetting for a brief second where she was. The blue and white zipped past them, they were in hyperspace.

"Can you tell me where we're going yet?" she asked, sitting up in her chair.

"You do know what a surprise is, right?" he asked sarcastically,

"Yes, I know what a lot of words mean. I'm just not a person who likes surprises." she retorted,

"We're almost there," a few minutes later the ship pulled out of hyperspace, a white planet and blue planet came into view. She stared out the window, the Scipian markings on her forehead looking back at her in her reflection,

"Is that Scipio?" she whispered,

"Yes, it is, happy birthday my little padawan." Esinon couldn't tear her eyes away from the planet as they drew closer to the planet's surface. Obi-Wan landed the ship, Esinon immediately ran towards the door, he used the force to stop her in her tracks. "Hold on, it's cold on Scipio."

"Right," she said, opening the closet on the ship, pulling out a coat. Esinon quickly got dressed running out into the snow with Obi-Wan close behind, she began to take off before halting and turning around, "We aren't gonna train today?"

"Sometimes the best training I can give you is to let you explore the galaxy that the force lives in," Obi-Wan said she got a big smile on her face running off into the snow. Obi-Wan sat watching for a while, he felt a snowball pelt him in the back. He turned to see Esinon using the force to hold up an armada of snowballs. "Is that a challenge?"

"Come and find out!" she said, sending another snowball forward. Obi-Wan ducked out of the way, using the force to get his own army of snowballs behind. He sent one flying at the girl, she flipped out of the way, sending another snowball towards her master. Obi-Wan ducked,

"Oh, I'm gonna get you," he yelled chasing after her, Esinon ran off, sending snowballs at him. He eventually caught up with the quick thirteen-year-old, he picked her up and placed her on his shoulders. "Who's the Jedi Master?" he asked in a deep voice.

"ME!" she shouted, flexing her biceps,

"Ah,"

"You, but I will be one day."

"That's the spirit, let's go explore the market," he said, setting her on the ground, they began the walk towards the town that was just a few klicks away. Esinon looked around the market, different stands lined the sides of the street, she smiled exploring all the stands, everyone here looked just like her. She paused seeing a man and a woman standing in the street, they felt familiar. The woman caught her gaze, her eyes seemed to light up, she dragged the man along with her. Esinon froze in place, she was alone, where was her master?

"Are you Esinon Windcaster?" the woman asked,

"Yes," She replied slowly, _Master, I need help. _She called out telepathically,

_I see you, I'm coming. _

"I told you, I told you." the woman said excitedly, smacking the man's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" she asked confusedly, her Master came to stand next to her.

"Oh I'm Ava Windcaster, and this is my husband Daniel. We have a lot to discuss," she said, she looked to her Master. Were these her parents? They followed the pair back into a house outside town, Obi-Wan could already sense his padawan's anxiety about this whole ordeal. He stopped her before they could walk through the door,

"Are you sure you want to go in there?"

"I don't really know what I want to do, I want some answers but…"

"I think it would be good, just for a few minutes and then we can leave." the two Jedi walked into the house and sat down at a table across from Ava and Daniel. They all sat there in awkward silence, it was finally broken by Daniel,

"So what brings you out to Scipio?"

"My padawan's birthday, she's never been to Scipio," Obi-Wan replied,

"How old are you?" Ava asked,

"Thirteen," Esinon said quietly,

"Well Happy Birthday," Ava said with a warm smile, "After we heard the news from a few friends on Christophsis about a Commander Windcaster, we thought maybe it could be you… there has never been a Windcaster who's been a Jedi." Esinon kept her eyes glued to the wooden table, "And when we saw you, we thought could it be?"

"Yeah, I guess word spreads fast," she mumbled,

"We're just so happy to see you, we really thought we would never see you again," Daniel said, taking his wife's hand.

"You gave me up. To the Ewoks," she said, her tone getting upset.

"The Jedi would have taken you anyway-" Ava began,

"I didn't find out I was force sensitive until I was two. There was no way you could have known." Esinon said, anger staining her words, "So why would you give me up?"

"We just couldn't take care of you. We were going through a rough time when you were born. We promised to get you back as soon as we got back on our feet." Daniel said,

"But by the time we went back to get you, you were already gone." Ava finished, Obi-Wan's comlink buzzed, he answered it,

"Master Kenobi, we need you to head to the Quell System immediately. Aayla Secura is in need of reinforcements."

"Right away, Master Windu." Obi-Wan said, turning off his comlink, "Sorry Mr. and Mrs. Windcaster, but our visit is unfortunately cut short. Duty calls," saved by the war.

"Of course, we understand," Ava said kindly, Esinon and Obi-Wan got up and left starting to make the trek back to their ship.

"How do you feel?"

"I dunno, I just don't know if I believe them. I've been doing studies with Senator Clovis ever since I was young about Scipio. I could tell by their clothing that they are representatives on the council for Scipio. How could they be going through a rough patch?"

"I don't know, but I'm sorry about our trip being cut short."

"It's ok, the war will always call us in the worst of times. Aside from the part with my parents, I had a great time! I don't see a lot of people who look like me." she replied happily, soon they got back to the ship. Obi-Wan sat down in the co-pilot's seat and Esinon in the pilot's seat.

"I do have one more surprise for you."

"Master, this is enough. I don't expect anything-" she started, he pulled out a necklace from his pocket. It was a leather string with a crystal at the end. He offered it to her, she took it gently in her hand, she could feel the force coming from it, a kyber crystal.

"Who's kyber crystal is this?" she asked looking it over curiously,

"It was my Master's, Qui-Gon Jinn. He, unfortunately, was killed in action when I was twenty-five. I thought so many times about giving it to Anakin, but I never did. It just didn't seem right, something about you reminds me of him. You defy all expectations that the galaxy has for you, just like he did. I think that it's time I pass this crystal on to someone, and the force has been nudging me to give it to you." she put it around her neck,

"Thank you, Master, I can't wait to tell Senator Clovis all about our trip," she said excitedly,

**A few hours later in the Quell System…**

Esinon followed her Master into the gunship, she grabbed onto the strap.

"We're ready Admiral," the hangar doors opened, letting the gunship out into the fray of battle. She kept her focus on what needed to happen as soon as they landed, explosions rocked the ship outside.

"We've got rocket droids incoming," Osprey said from the cockpit, she could see droids littering the sky and the top of Master Secura's ship,

"Those droids are boarding Aayla's ship," a droid landed on their gunship, pulling the cover off of the cockpit. "Take care of the droid, I'll be on board Aayla's cruiser," he instructed Cody, Obi-Wan ran diving off the edge of the ship, jumping onto a droid riding towards the Jedi cruiser. Osprey jumped down from the cockpit, escaping the droid, Esinon and Cody each grabbed a hand, dragging him to safety. The ship started to plummet, the controls destroyed by the droid. They were about to crash into the cruiser below,

"Hang on kid," Cody said, she grabbed onto the edge of the ship. The smoking ship wedged itself into a hole in the hull, Esinon jumped out igniting her lightsaber, the clones following after their young commander. She paved a path of safety, swinging her saber through each droid that crossed her path. She flipped over one landing on the head of another, she stabbed her saber down, she jumped, slicing her saber down through the second.

"Hey Master," they ran meeting up with Master Secura,

"Nice entrance Kenobi," she remarked as they ran around a corner, "How do you plan to get us out of this mess?"

"Well, I have a ship docking in the lower hanger as we speak." they ran around another corner, running into a droid,

"Hold it!" he yelled, holding up a blaster, Esinon got a sly smile, igniting her saber. The blast doors opened to a whole armada of droids, "Ha," the three Jedi deflected the blast before doubling back the way they came. Esinon pressed a button the docking port,

"We made it," Esinon ushered the troops forward into the ship. A loud rumble echoed through the ship, Obi-Wan turned to see an explosion rushing towards them,

"We're too late," he used the force to push everyone to safety, the blast door closing behind them.

"Master!" Esinon shouted, "Don't move the ship," she smashed her hand into the control panel, it opened slightly, she poked her head through, she finally spotted her master unconscious among the debris. She cut a hole with her lightsaber, grabbing his hand and dragging him towards the docking port. The ship cracked and rumbled, the floor shaking beneath them.

"Esinon, we have to leave now!" Esinon struggled to drag her master by one hand. Aayla picked up the other helping the young padawan drag her master onto the ship. "Get everyone on the ship,"

"I'm going to turn on the deflector shields," Commander Bly said running off, the two Jedi put one of Obi-Wan's arms around their shoulders dragging him onto the ship.

"Gangway released," the pilots moved the ship away from the crumbling Jedi cruiser. Esinon and Aayla set Obi-Wan down on a bed, letting a medical droid take over. Esinon bit her nails nervously, would he be ok? The ship jolted with another blast, she felt herself lurch forward, hyperspace? The blast door opened, Master Secura, standing in the doorway.

"I need you on the bridge with Commander Bly right now," she was tempted to argue, but she knew that if Master Kenobi was awake he would have told her to go. She nodded before reluctantly going to the bridge,

"I'm Esinon Windcaster, I don't think we've met." She said offering her hand to the trooper,

"Bly, nice to meet you, Commander. Unfortunately, we have a problem,"

"What is it?" he pulled up a holomap,

"In our haste to escape, the navicomputer's coordinates were inputted incorrectly, and well… we're headed straight for a star." Esinon hopped into the pilot's seat, she flipped a few buttons, pulling her hands away for a second from the sparking control panel,

"It's no use, the navicomputer is completely fried," Bly said frustratedly,

"Cody, shut down all power circuits to reset the coordinates," Esinon said, flipping a few more buttons, they flickered for a moment, she had to trust her master would stay, he was strong, so she needed to be strong too.

"Switching off all primary power units,"

"We're cutting it awfully close," Cody said,

"Ready to shut off auxiliary power." Master Secura said Esinon gripped the yoke,

"On three, one, two, three," Aayla pulled the lever turning off the power, they came out of hyperspace flying, the light of stars flashing in their eyes.

"Resume all power!" Bly shouted, Esinon gritted her teeth, the ship was spinning out of control, the power still wasn't on. "Turn it on!" the ship was burning up, "Hurry!" the power came back, Esinon jerked the yoke hard to the right, passing just by the star. They were now hurtling towards a green and brown planet,

"Well, we aren't going to crash into the star. Everyone brace yourself," Esinon said, they started to fly into the planet's atmosphere, the blinding yellow light in front of them, Esinon pulled up trying to land as smoothly as possible, another explosion rattled the ship, they plummeted into the ground, all the windows shattering, sending glass over the inhabitants of the ship. The ship slid through the ground until it lurched to a stop,

"Get everyone out," She instructed Cody before following Aayla back to the med bay, they grabbed Obi-Wan rushing out of the ship. They both collapsed to the ground as the heat flew over their backs as the ship coughed out one last explosion.

"Well, we made it. And Master Kenobi is still alive." Aayla said, letting out a cough. Esinon sat up from the soft grass, wiping some of the ash off from her face with her sleeve.

"Another happy landing." She mumbled, staring at her master.

"He would have been proud," Aayla said, standing up, Esinon did as well,

"I have been taking lessons from Master Skywalker on the art of demolishing ships." she joked,

**A few hours later…**

The clones had managed to set up a makeshift camp, with a tent for Obi-Wan and fire crackling in the clearing. Esinon came back from scouting to the site

"Obi-Wan doesn't have much time. We need to find help tonight." Aayla said,

"Ok, you and Bly go south. Cody and I will stay here with Master Kenobi." Esinon said,

"No Esinon, in order to get help quickly, we must work together." Master Secura said sternly,

"I can't leave him. Master, I know if I was hurt, he'd never leave me behind." Esinon said worriedly,

"I know this is hard for you Esinon, but Obi-Wan has to stay behind, and we have to go now. There is nothing we can do for him. We must do all we can to get off this planet. As a Jedi, it is your duty to do what is best for the group." Esinon stared at the ground for a moment, she could feel the weight of the crystal against her chest,

"Ok," she glanced up at the horizon, the sun setting in the distance, Bly ran up, holding a stone slab,

"General Secura, it looks like we're not the only ones on this planet." Esinon glanced at the pictures on the stones,

"That's an Amanian, and that's a Charnoq. I think we might be on Maridun."

"Good work Esinon, we should probably head for the tall trees. Maybe the Amanian will be able to help us." a low growl sounded from the tall grass around them, the clone troopers turned on their lights in the dimming night surroundings,

"If you mind me asking, General Secura, where exactly are we going?" Commander Bly asked,

"To find the people who live on this planet,"

"How? We have no idea where they are," Esinon slid the tablet in her pack,

"We're headed for the tall trees, Amanian's have to stay moist so they can produce their slime, they'll be living in the mud under tall trees. Like in the carving." Esinon said she knelt down in front of her master,

"Be strong Master, just a little bit longer. Cody will watch over you."

"Don't worry kid, I'll take good care of him," Cody said she nodded standing up,

"Captain Cody, keep your locator on, we should be back by daybreak with whoever we can find." Master Secura said as she began to instruct her other troops,

"Got it General Secura." he said, "Hey kid…" Esinon turned to face Cody, "good luck," he said punching her shoulder lightly, she smiled,

"Come on, let's get moving." Master Secura said, with four clones behind her. They took off running towards the sunset,

**A few hours later…**

Esinon kept a wary gaze out at the grass, sensing the lifeforms. If they really were on Maridun, there were a lot of dangerous creatures out here. In the back of her mind, she couldn't push away her worry. What if Cody had been attacked, what if her Master was dead? Master Secura glanced at the young padawan, who's gaze was still focused on her surroundings.

"I can still sense your worries about Obi-Wan, your attachment to him," she said,

"It's just- I get so confused sometimes. It's forbidden for a Jedi to form attachments, yet we are supposed to be compassionate," she said, she could feel shame bubbling up inside her, she should be better than this.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of Esinon. I went through the same process when I was not much older than you with my own master."

"But you're incredible."

"He was like a father to me. I realized for the greater good, I had to let him go. Don't lose a thousand lives just to save one. Besides, you're a padawan and you are still learning. The council sees great things in you, selecting you to be a padawan at this age. I was two years older than you when I was assigned."

"I guess some of this might have been urged on by the earlier events of today," Esinon said, thinking about Scipio.

"And what happened earlier today?" Master Secura asked,

"I saw my parents for the first time, my Master and I were on Scipio. They abandoned me on Endor. It's hard for me to think about because I just don't understand why they didn't want me." she said,

"Emotions are a complicated thing Esinon, you must remember to be mindful." Master Secura said,

"Yes Master," they finally made it to a tall tree, Esinon looked up as they began to walk under it. The sky was dark, dotted with stars, making it difficult to see.

"There are no signs of life anywhere," Bly said looking around, Esinon heard cracking from the tree above, a pod was falling, ready to crush the people below.

"Look out!" Master Secura yelled, tackling Bly out of the way, Esinon flipped out of the way as three more pods fell.

"No wonder this place is deserted, it's a death trap!" Esinon grumbled, her heart still pounding, "You'd have to be crazy to want to dodge those every day." Master Secura's eyes shifted to the ground seeing a track in the dirt,

"It looks like something was moving these pods, all we have to do is follow the trail. Let's go!" She took off running, the clones not far behind, Esinon drew ahead using her speed to run faster, fueled by her need to find help for her Master. A loud caw echoed through the empty night sky, they all paused, now in a clearing, no made a noise as their eyes shifted back and forth looking for the source of the noise. The grass rustled, paws pounding, Esinon ignited her lightsaber.

"Watch your left!" Aayla shouted large creatures, leaped out from the grass, knocking the two Jedi to their feet, ripping through the clones. Esinon called her saber, igniting it, trying to shove her fear away. Bly fired a shot, it went through the head of one of the creatures, the Jedi chasing away the other two.

"Cameron's dead. So are Lucky and Flesh." Bly said, she could sense his sadness at the loss of his friends. Esinon looked at the creature before her, a griffin looking thing with the head of a bird and the body of a lion. It was a Mastiff phalone.

"We have to keep moving," Aayla said sadly, the trio took off running, the sun beginning to peek it's head over the horizon. After what seemed like hours of running, they saw a village coming into view. They stopped at the top of a hill, looking over a colony,

"Lurmen, we are Miradun." she said happily, "They'll have a healer." Aayla slid down the hill towards the village, Esinon, and Bly following suit. "Hello!" she waved a hand in a friendly manner, the crowd of Lurmen parted, an older one coming forward.

"What have you come here for?" he asked, a thick accent coating his words.

"We are peacekeepers. We are Jedi and we come from the Galactic Republic. Our ship crashed a few miles away, and one of us is badly injured. We need your help." Master Secura explained,

"Violence breeds violence. Jedi are no peacekeepers." Esinon glanced down at the lightsaber hanging at her side.

"We're fighting for freedom," Esinon said, thinking about the war she was a part of it. She didn't like it any more than anyone else did, but they needed to be free of the oppression of the Separatists.

"And freedom and peace require fear and death?" Esinon and Aayla shared a look, "We colonized this system to find solace from your wretched war. We came here to find peace, you must leave. Now. You will only destroy the small amount of peace left in the galaxy. You will bring death and destruction to us." he said,

"Regardless of the Clone Wars and our involvement in them. We still need your help." Master Secura said,

"I'm sorry, but I must do what is best for my people." the Lurmen said beginning to walk away,

"Please," Esinon cut in, "My friend is dying, you must have some medical supplies we can use." the older Lurmen paused, he waved over another younger one.

"I cannot ignore a plea for help. I will send my son Wag Too to help your friend. He is a healer. But only one Jedi may go with him. The other will stay as insurance." the leader of the colony said, "We wouldn't want a surprise attack on our village or the kidnapping of our only healer."

"Bly and I will stay, Padawan, go and help your Master." Master Secura said,

"No, the clone and his blaster cannot stay. He will go with the youngling," he said,

"Come on Bly, we gotta get going." Esinon starting towards the hill,

"Be mindful of your surroundings, Padawan. Those creatures are still out there."

"I will, I'll be back soon!" she shouted taking off, Wag Too tucked into a ball rolling after her, Bly chasing after the young commander. As they drew closer to the camp, Esinon could hear the screeching of Mastiffs, "Hurry!" she could see Obi-Wan and Cody on the ground, a Mastiff advancing on them. Bly held up his blaster, raring to fire, "Wait," she shoved his blaster down, "Hey!" she yelled, catching the Mastiff's attention, she held out her hand connecting with the large creature through the force. It ran towards her nuzzling it's beak into her happily,

"Wow," Bly mumbled, as Esinon laughed rubbing the Mastiff's beak, as it attempted to give her a slobbery kiss,

"Hi little buddy, did we scare you?"

"We scared it? It almost killed us!" Cody growled, walking over to Obi-Wan helping him roll over to his back.

"I didn't know Jedi could do that." Bly said, still in shock.

"We don't want to hurt you, sit." she instructed, the Mastiff sat, squawking happily, she heard a groan from her Master. She ran over, kneeling down next to him, "Master?"

"Hey, good to see you Esinon," he mumbled tiredly,

"This is Wag Too, he's a healer," she said motioning to the Lurmen walking over. "He can make you better again."

"Don't worry, I'll fix you right up." Obi-Wan gave a nod of thanks, Esinon stood back up, walking back over to the Mastiff,

"Hey, do you think you could help us?" she asked, rubbing his neck, he squawked in response, he let out a cry calling out two more Mastiffs who sat down next to him. "You're the best little buddy. Bly, Cody, help me make some sort of stretcher, Mastiffs are going to give us a ride."

"Your best friends with the killers now?" Bly asked walking over to the wreck of the ship,

"They're nice once you get to know them," she said defiantly, soon they had made a makeshift hammock, attaching it to the Mastiff, they carefully loaded Obi-Wan onto it, he groaned slightly. She jumped onto the Mastiff's back, Bly and Cody tentatively did the same, Wag Too joined her,

"Are you sure this is safe?" he asked nervously,

"Positive, I've connected with them through the force." She tapped her foot into the Mastiff's side, taking off in the direction of the Lurmen village. They soon arrived back at the village, the Mastiff's slowing down trotting among the Lurmen. Esinon slid off the back, Wag Too jumping off, and Bly removed the stretcher from the side of the Mastiff, Cody dismounting as well. They set Obi-Wan down, the Lurmen crowding around the new face. She rubbed the side of the Mastiff, Master Secura walked up looking at the creature,

"Very impressive Esinon,"

"He's a big softy," the creature cooed, nudging her with his beak. She giggled, hugging his big neck.

"Esinon?" her master called nervously, from among the unfamiliar faces.

**Later that night…**

Esinon and Master Secura sat on a hill overlooking the colony below.

"You were right all along Master Secura," Esinon said, with a smile on her face.

"About what?" she asked,

"If I had stayed with Master Kenobi, we probably wouldn't have found the village in time to save him." Esinon sighed standing up, "At least this whole ordeal is over now."

"We still have to find a way off this planet," Aayla said standing up and walking back down towards the colony,

"Right, I'll get on that," Esinon said, sliding back down the hill to check on Master Kenobi and to try and get a communication. A few minutes later, Esinon was holding a small box steady with her feet, she snapped her comlink in half pulling out some of the wires, trying to get them to get a transmission through. Cody came over sitting down next to her, he offered her some fruit and water.

"Thanks," she said, taking it, pulling the hydrospanner out of her mouth, replacing it with the fruit.

"How are you feeling kid?"

"Better now that we found Master Kenobi help," she said, ripping out another part, replacing it with a new one.

"You've done good today, the General would be proud," he said, she connected two wires, a flickering image of Admiral Block. "Admiral,"

"Commander Windcaster, are you alright?"

"Yes, we were able to find a colony of Lurmen, we're on Miradun. We managed to get medical attention for General Kenobi but we need extraction."

"We're on our way now," the communication cut out, Cody squinted up at the sky, seeing something in the distance. He put his binocs to his eyes,

"Commander, we have a new problem," he said, passing her the binocs, she put her them to her eyes, a Separatist ship was above them,

"That's not good, contact Bly, I gotta tell Master Secura," she said scrambling to her feet,

"Yes sir," Cody got up as well, running off to find Bly. She ran back to the tent,

"Master,"

"Yes Esinon?" he asked, propping himself up on his elbows, bandages over his head and chest,

"We have a droid ship incoming," two clone troopers came back poking their head in the tent,

"This is neutral space," Wag Too said in surprise,

"It's not going to be neutral for long, not if the Separatists have their way." Obi-Wan struggled trying to get up, "Help me up,"

"Don't struggle, I'm sorry, but you are just too injured to move." Esinon helped ease her Master back onto the bed,

"What menace have you brought to our village now Jedi?" Tee Watt Ka asked angrily, walking into the tent.

"Father, you can't blame them." Wag Too said Esinon put her arm under Obi-Wan helping him sit up.

"He's right, the Separatists don't even know we're here," Esinon said,

"And they can't know, we need to hide," Aayla said,

"You're endangering all of us. You must leave before they find you."

"But you'll need our help, you can't fight them on your own," Esinon said,

"We will not fight them at all. We would rather die than kill others," he said firmly,

"You're going to surrender?" she asked in surprise, "But how can you-"

"Esinon, stop," she turned to face her master, "If the Lurmen want to remain neutral, we won't force them into war."

"See to it that they leave. I must see what our new visitors want." Tee Watt Ka said to his son.

"Get your things Esinon, quickly." Master Secura said, Esinon used her speed to gather her communication device and ran back to the hut where Cody and Bly where helping Obi-Wan stand up,

"Take it, easy sir," Obi-Wan grunted slowly making it to his feet, they hurried out of the hut, the droid army now coming into the colony, blasters fired, and huts collapsed,

"Why are they destroying our homes? We have done nothing to them." Wag Too said angrily,

"Violence, that's why those droids are programmed for. Unfortunately, the Separatists do not share the Jedi's value of life." Esinon said frustratedly, she couldn't stand idly by while these innocent Lurmen were being attacked. "Can't we do anything?"

"No, and if we are discovered, all the Lurmen will be slaughtered." Master Secura said,

"We'll be ok, we just need to make it to the tall grass." Master Kenobi said, they walked warily into the grass, everyone ducking low. Esinon belly crawled to the edge of the grass, watching the droid army beginning to leave. She made her way back to where everyone else was resting,

"They're gone,"

"I still don't understand why those Lurmen don't want to fight," Cody said,

"No pride, I guess," Bly remarked, Esinon grouchily munched on a ration stick.

"I understand why they don't want to fight, but they realize even if they don't fight, the Separatists will kill them anyway." Esinon said,

"Either way, we need to find a ship." Obi-Wan said, "And the only one around here belongs to the Separatists."

"We know that they have a landing ship," Bly said,

"They might have a shuttle," Cody said, "But are we really talking about stealing from the clankers?"

"Sounds fun, I like a challenge." Esinon said, sitting next to her Master.

"We need to find them first," Aayla stated, Esinon looked up from her ration stick, something was moving in the grass, a probe.

"I think we just did," she said, jumping to her feet,

"Blast it!" Obi-Wan shouted the clones jumped up blue lasers firing,

"Jam it's signal," Esinon said, taking off after it. She used her speed to easily catch up with it, she jumped tackling the wiggling droid to the ground. She stabbed her saber through its eye.

"Where was it going?" Master Secura asked as Esinon got up, dusting herself off.

"Maybe we can get a better look from up there," she said, pointing to the large tree in front of them. Master Secura and the two clones began climbing, Esinon let out a shrill whistle, the Mastiff Phalone from earlier came running forwards, "Hey buddy, I need you to go back to get my master." the creature cawed in response, she climbed up the tree, Cody passed her a pair of binocs. The enormous fortress stared her down, she took a deep breath, this wasn't going to be easy. She could sense her master coming up behind her, "I hope you're feeling better because look what we found." she passed him the binocs.

"I'm getting stronger all the time… but I'm not sure I'm ready for that."

**A few hours later…**

Esinon fiddled with the crystal around her neck, she put the binocs to her eyes again, she slid the dial on the side zooming in. She spotted a shuttle among the hoards of droids.

"That shuttle is our ticket out of here,"

"It's not going to be easy, sir. There doesn't seem to be any flaws in their security line." Bly said, in somewhat of a doubtful tone.

"You underestimate the commander, she could take that base herself." Cody said, she smiled to herself, the gates to the fortress opened, a canon moving out of it,

"It looks like the Separatists have a new toy." she looked up at Cody, "Go see if you can get a closer look."

"Yes, sir,"

"I'll come with you, Captain," Bly said, following Cody on his descent. They waited for a few minutes, as Bly and Cody crept forward. She spotted a few droids coming forward, she saw the two clench their blasters. "Steady boys,"

"Don't worry, Cody's got it," Obi-Wan muttered to his padawan, sensing her growing concern for the former commander. BOOM! The smoke trail from a missile heading straight for the two clone troopers. They took off running, as the bomb hit the ground, sending a blazing cloud towards them. Esinon and Aayla ran down to a lower branch, Cody and Bly fired their cables from their guns, Cody tripped over a rock, his cable missing the branch, Esinon cut a vine swinging down grabbing the Captain, they swerved the vine breaking under their weight. The two tumbled over one another, she opened her eyes, her vision coming back into focus, Aayla Secura kneeling next to her.

"Are you two are alright?" she asked,

"Yeah, Cody?"

"I'm alright sir, thank you." Esinon climbed up to her feet, helping Cody up. She couldn't tear her gaze away from the fiery landscape that lay in front of her.

"It killed everything." she whispered in horror,

"Let's get back in the tree," Aayla said, urging the padawan forward,

"Where are they going now?" Master Kenobi asked, staring through the binocs. He handed the binocs to Esinon,

"They're going in the direction of the Lurmen village."

"They're going to test that weapon on the Lurmen," Cody said,

"They won't stand a chance," Esinon said, sitting down in defeat.

"First we take out the droids' communication station," Obi-Wan said, starting to formulate a plan. "Then we go after the shuttle, after we have it, we go back to help the Lurmen."

"I could and try to prepare the Lurmen," Esinon offered, thinking about her newfound friend Wag Too.

"No, we all need to stick together to take this base," Obi-Wan said They waited for night to fall before starting to creep towards the base. Esinon followed Master Secura to the wall of the base, they dodged the searchlights, pressing their backs against the wall. Master Kenobi used the force to move a rock, distracting the droids, allowing Master Secura and Esinon to move again, they jumped up the side, flipping over the edge into the base.

"Get to the door, I'll handle the droids." Master Secura whispered, Esinon nodded, running off, she used her speed to get to the door as fast as possible. Two droids stood guard, with one fell swoop she sliced through both. She pressed the button opening the blast doors, she darted back behind boxes, as Master Kenobi, Cody, and Bly joined her. As soon as the coast was clear, they rushed up to the command center.

"Check the exterior." the first one said, "We cannot have any surprises for the General." Bly snuck up, grabbing him from behind, dragging him downward, ripping its head off. Cody slunk upward grabbing the second droid, ripping its head off as well. Obi-Wan popped up slashing his lightsaber through the last one, his padawan zipped past bringing her saber through every droid in her path. As soon as they had cleared the area of any droids, they made a dash for the ship.

"Shield generators sir,"

"Grab 'em and we'll bring them with us," Esinon said running up the catwalk and jumping in the pilot's seat. Everyone loaded themselves into the ship, she pulled up on the yoke bringing them into the air and out of the base.

**A few minutes later…**

The dawn was breaking, sun glazing the grassy landscape below them. Esinon landed the ship outside the Lurmen village, all the inhabitants getting out. Tee Watt Ka meeting them,

"Everyone please listen, the Separatists will be here any minute." Master Secura began to explain,

"What are you doing here?" Tee Watt Ka asked frustratedly, "I told you not to return." Wag Too attempted to comfort his angry father,

"I'm afraid that the Separatists don't much care if you are in the war or not." Master Kenobi said, "We must get you to safety before they arrive."

"We will not abandon our homes." Tee Watt Ka retorted waving an angry finger,

"They have a new weapon that will wipe you all out in seconds. Is that what you really want?" Esinon asked,

"If it is our destiny to be destroyed in your war, so be it." Esinon sighed in frustration,

"Set up a perimeter of pods around the colony," Master Kenobi said, "If we can't evacuate then we'll have to block."

**A few hours later…**

Cody climbed over the mound of pods, using his binocs to look over the horizon. He spotted tanks, and squads of droids coming towards them.

"Droids inbound. We've got eight minutes tops," he said climbing back down,

"Let's get those shield generators in place." Master Kenobi said Esinon pressed a few buttons on the generator, it floating up, sending a white beam into the sky, forming a swirling bubble above them.

"Help me close the breach of the pods." Master Secura said Esinon used the force to drag the pods, closing up the gap.

"Pray what are you doing? Stop building this wall." Tee Watt Ka begged, "I asked you not to defend us."

"This battle is inevitable. You can stand by your beliefs, but please let us stand by ours." Master Kenobi said Tee Watt Ka didn't say anything, walking away. Esinon stood by Wag Too,

"Thank you for what you're trying to do." he sighed sadly, "I'm sorry I cannot help. My father is very strong-willed and set in tradition. Many others agree with me, but we are raised under a very strict code. We must do it, even if we don't agree with it."

"It's ok, Jedi are brought up under a strict code as well," Esinon said she ran back over to Cody who was still perched on top of the wall.

"They're holding their position."

"They won't charge us." Obi-Wan said, "Not if they can hit us from long range first. But if we can withstand that weapon, we'll draw them in." a missile fired from off in the distance. Cody jumped down, Esinon held her breath hoping the shield would hold. The raging wall of fire rushed towards them, the shield held, as the fire surrounded the village.

"Now they have to come to us," Obi-Wan said, she looked back out of the shield, droids were charging forward.

"That's a lot of clankers," she mumbled,

"We have to hold them outside the shield." The metallic pounding of their feet pounded in her ears, they marched in sync, as one unit, it made her head hurt. She ignited her blade as they exited the shield, the droids unleashed a barrage of lasers upon them. The three Jedi and two clones charged into battle, she deflected blasts back at her attackers. She jumped into another droid, bringing her lightsaber straight down. She used the force to crush droids under her fist, she whipped around throwing her saber into the one in front of her, she threw a kick, calling her saber and continuing. They all quickly finished off the first wave, Esinon paused for a moment still tense from the battle.

"That wasn't so bad," she said, trying to lighten the mood slightly.

"That was just the first wave," Obi-Wan said, spotting two more attack squadrons charging towards them. They all charged into battle, Esinon sliced through another droid, throwing a kick into another, "Esinon! Get back to the village, I'll handle the new weapon." Obi-Wan instructed,

"Yes, Master," she said, taking off at superspeed back to the village. She took out as many droids as she could slicing through as fast as she could, she looked up the shield dissipating. The Lurmen's screams echoed throughout the colony as the droids came in upon them, Esinon ran faster, destroying everyone droid that fell into her eye line. The Jedi were struggling to keep up as they were vastly outnumbered, she paused looking to see the Lurmen were rushing into battle with them. She winked at Wag Too before taking off again, she saw them tying up droids, bringing them to their feet in a neat line. Esinon ran dragging her saber through the ground and the droid's heads. She spun her saber looking around for more enemies, but they never came, the battle was won. She replaced her saber on her belt, the Lurmen cheering, clapping, hugging one another, Wag Too gave her a nod of thanks, she did the same.

**A few minutes later…**

She and her Master stood in front of the stolen Seperatist ship, Wag Too came up,

"Thank you Wag Too," Obi-Wan said,

"Thank you, our village would have certainly been destroyed without your protection." Wag Too said, motioning to the Lurmen cleaning up behind him, he spotted his father coming forward, "Father, I was just offering the Jedi our thanks."

"Perhaps we do owe you thanks." he said, "But I still wonder at what cost?" Esinon looked up to see Republic cruisers pulling into the system,

"Well, we better get going." Obi-Wan said, "Thank you, again." he climbed onto the ship along with Master Secura.

"Well Wag Too, I guess this is it," Esinon said,

"We'll see each other again, you'll always be welcome here," he said, she climbed onto the catwalk,

"Bye!" she shouted as the ship began to take off. She walked up towards the cockpit, pausing overhearing her Master and Master Secura.

"You should be very proud of your padawan. She connected today with very dangerous creatures, and helped lead this very mission."

"I am, she is very strong with the force, and extremely smart." she smiled before walking in, interrupting the conversation.

"Hello Master," she said, standing up as they flew towards the Republic Cruiser.

"Hello little one, how are you feeling?"

"I'm gonna miss Wag Too, he and the Lurmen are really nice," she said,

"It is amazing your ability to make friends with anyone." Master Kenobi remarked,

"Even the Mastiffs," Bly commented,

"Even the Mastiffs." Esinon echoed, a smile creeping onto her face.

**Oooo, Esinon's parents are back. Yikes. **

**Also, if you have characters you would like to see Esinon meet, or have more interactions with, leave them in the reviews, or if it's more comfortable for you PM me, and I'll see what I can do. Thank you again for all the support! Leave a review if you have time! **


	7. Trespass

**Hello everyone! I hope you all are doing well! Here is the next chapter as promised, sorry it took me till now to post it. I'm busy writing scholarship essays for school, so I kinda forgot. Leave a review if you have time! Make sure to stay healthy and safe and now, without further ado... **

**A few days later…**

Esinon dribbled the ball around Xavier's feet, passing it to Ahsoka. She kicked the ball up to her head, bouncing it a few times, Bariss looked up from her book.

"Are you sure you don't want to play?" Ahsoka asked, catching the ball.

"I'm sure," she replied going back to her book,

"Man, I wish I could bounce the ball on my head," Xavier said tenderly, touching his bandaged horns. Xavier was at the age where his horns really started to grow fully, instead of being the soft nubs. So they were bleeding, and it was extremely painful.

"When was the last time you checked those?" Bariss asked, eyeing the pinkish bandages. She was being trained partially as a healer, and Master Allie had requested that she keep an eye on Xavier.

"It was like yesterday," he said,

"And that's my cue, come on," she said getting up, taking Xavier away.

"Bye guys," he waved, following after Bariss. Esinon and Ahsoka continued with their game of soccer,

"Snips!" Anakin yelled from across the gardens,

"Yeah Master?"

"Pack up your stuff! We have another mission." he said, "Esinon, same for you."

"Ok," she said, picking up her ball. She packed up her stuff, walking to the hanger. Orto Pluntonia, it was a cold place, so she brought all of her cold-weather gear, she didn't spot her Master among the clones and workers.

"Speedy, I have something for you," Anakin said, walking up behind her.

"What is it?" she asked following him around a few ships,

"Since you don't have a droid, and R4 is a big baby and doesn't like the cold, I got you this," he said, motioning to the shiny blue and yellow astromech.

"What?!" she yelled excitedly, running over to the droid,

"This is R11," the droid excitedly spun his head, rushing over to the young girl as well. She knelt down, R11 got close enough for her to hug him, he let out a series of excited beeps, Esinon let go and he happily spun his head.

"I can't believe it, thank you Master Skywalker!"

"Obi-Wan pitched in too, he's all yours. Take good care of him." the droid beep nudging Esinon slightly,

"What?" she asked, he repeated the same series of beeps, "It's nice to meet you too. I think we'll have fun."

"3PO!" Anakin shouted the golden protocol droid came around the wall,

"Yes master Ani?" he asked,

"You'll be going with Obi-Wan to Orto Plutonia on a mission." 3PO looked at the new astromech,

"Where's R2?" he asked,

"R2 is coming with me, this is R11."

"Nice to meet you R11," C-3PO replied politely,

"Come on you two, Master Kenobi is waiting for us." She and the two droids got into the _Negotiator. _Master Kenobi looked down at the astromech excitedly spinning its head in greeting.

"I see you met R11," he said, rubbing the droid's head.

"Isn't he sweet," Esinon said, smiling, "So what's the mission."

"I'm about to debrief everyone," he said, on cue, the 212th and 501st entered the room. "We have recently lost contact with our outpost on the plant of Orto Plutonia, our assignment is to investigate the disappearance of our troopers. We will be accompanied by dignitaries from the nearby moon of Pantora, should we run into any unfriendlies, you must protect the dignitaries."

"Sir yes sir," the troopers responded,

"Cody, Rex, prep the gunships," he said, Esinon walked back to her quarters dressed in Jedi issued winter gear, she pulled on a blue coat with a white Jedi symbol on her right shoulder, she hurried to the gunships with R11 close on her tail.

**A few minutes later…**

The gunships landed, letting the troopers, dignitaries, and the Jedi out. She pulled her goggles over her eyes, the wind and snow whipping around them,

"And this is the tropical part of the planet," Obi-Wan said,

"It's no Endor, that's for sure." Esinon said, "Captain Rex, have your men survey the area. Place as many sensors as you can before dark, and be careful."

"Right away sir," he said,

"Come R11, let's get your scanners up." she said, the droid excitedly spun its head, "I think you have more energy than me."

"General Kenobi," the two pantorans exited the gunship, along with a few guards.

"Chairman Cho, Senator Chuchi. I suggest you wait here until we have secured the area." Master Kenobi said, walking over,

"I respect your judgment General Kenobi, but I will go where I wish. This is sovereign Pantoran territory." the Chairman said,

"Orto Plutonia is an uninhabited planet." Esinon said, "At least it is right now, therefore it is not aligned."

"Our moon of Pantora is the only civilization in this system. I'm the one who asked the Senate to protect it. This wasteland belongs to us." he said, angrily,

"With all due respect, Chairman, this is for the Senate to decide, not us. We are simply here to investigate our missing troopers, and recover them if it comes to that." Esinon replied, keeping calm in the face of the hothead chairman.

"Ah, but the Jedi report to the Senate which is Senator Chuchi of Pantora.

"Technically speaking, Master Jedi, the chairman is correct. Since the planet is uninhabited, the moon of Pantora reserves the right to continue as it's protectorate." Senator Chuchi said politely,

"Point taken Senator," Master Kenobi said, "Esinon stay here with the Senator and the droids while we secure the base."

"Yes Master," she replied, she waited patiently under an overhang outside while Senator Chuchi was back in the gunship with a detail of troopers, C3PO and R11 came over,

"Mistress Esinon, might we go inside, R11 would like to get out of the cold." R11 beeped defensively,

"We'll go inside as soon as Master Kenobi signals it's safe," she said, glancing over at the base entrance. R11 twittered, "I know buddy, it is pretty cold, at least you're not whining like R4 would be." she rubbed her droid's head, him spinning in response, "I think I'm gonna call you Spinner since you do that all the time." he beeped happily, her comlink chirped,

"Esinon, get to the speeders. Rex has found a droid base as well."

"Yes Master, you two stay here," she instructed, she hopped in a speeder along with the others as they sped off through the snow.

**A few minutes later…**

She climbed out of her speeder, looking at the droid base, half-buried in the snow. She saw droid heads stabbed through sticks in the snow, she saw her Master's memory of the clone helmets with the same thing flashed through her mind, why did she keep seeing other people's memories? First Fives and Echo, now her Master, she needed to speak to him about it when she got the chance.

"Looks like whatever attacked our base, attacked the droids too," she said, putting a hand on top of the head.

"Rex, Cody, help Esinon place the sensor beacons. You four, come with me." Master Kenobi said,

"Yes General," Rex said, Esinon, Cody, and Rex snuck up the front of the base, both of them had blasters poised. The darkness surrounded them, she could almost hear the echoes of screams through the force. Rex spotted a shadow of a droid, he whipped his blaster up, Esinon looked where he was staring. It was a droid, without a head, this was all a horror show. She saw more droid heads on sticks in the ground,

"Did you find anything?" her Master called from above, she knelt down, placing her hand in a large footprint,

"I found a print, it's big... or maybe my hand is just small," she said,

"Alright, have one of your men make a cast." Master Kenobi said before walking into another room to keep exploring. She nodded, flagging down Reed,

"Can you make a cast of this please?"

"Yes sir," he said,

"Cody, Rex, let's finish placing those sensors." they quickly finished up, she walked up the stairs meeting her Master. "Sensors are in place,"

"I think I found something," he said, he tried to pull up a holo video, "Blast it," she smiled, smacking it the bottom of her hand,

"I have the magic touch," a hologram of a droid appeared in front of them,

"685 to command," blasters and growling echoed in the background, "There are too many of them. They've overrun the base, we need reinforcements! Ahh!" the droid on-screen was tackled by a white blur,

"What was that?" she asked,

"Whatever it was it was a good warrior," he replied,

"According to the droid's logs indicate they were investigating the southern canyon," Rex informed them,

"Sounds like a good place to start," Obi-Wan said pulling his goggles over his eyes, Cody and Esinon gave each other a knowing look before following him back outside. She put her binocs to her eyes scanning the ridge,

"There's some sort of reflection on that ridge, do you see it?" he asked, she turned her gaze a small flash appeared on her scopes,

"Yup, well, they know we're coming."

"Let's go," Obi-Wan said, they both hopped back in their speeders heading towards the flash. They slowed down coming across a bridge, the white creatures coming into view. They both tentatively got out meeting a creature on top of a large animal, the white creatures came forwards. She tensed up a bit thinking about all the clones she had seen in her Master's memories,

"Steady Esinon, they're only curious. Let's not provoke them like our troops and the droids must-have." they walked forward and were stopped by a cross of spears, another creature coming forward signaling the others to let up, leading the Jedi forward. She could hear the creatures talking to one another in a language she didn't understand.

"Too bad we didn't bring Threepio along, how do you plan on talking to them?" she asked curiously.

"Patience, maybe they're smarter than us," he said, they met another one of the creatures, with a large headdress on his head. He said something in a foreign language, he raised his spear stabbing it into the ground.

"Hello," Esinon said, waving slightly, the two Jedi bowed before following the creature into a hut. They sat down around the fire, Esinon spotted another creature bringing the leader a drawing on a tablet, it looked like a battle droids.

"We come to you in peace," Obi-Wan began, trying to communicate. Esinon spotted another tablet on the ground, "We will not bring you harm." She grabbed it and a sharp rock drawing a picture in the soft rock. She held it up pointing to her picture of two people shaking hands,

"Peace," after what seemed like a long discussion between the Talz and the Jedi they managed to learn names and arrange a meeting, Obi-Wan offered his hand to the creature, the Talz grabbed Obi-Wan into a hug, "I like hugs too!" she joined in hugging the Talz and her Master. The Talz let go, she waved goodbye before jumping into her speeder both of them heading back to base.

**A few minutes later…**

Spinner came speeding past all the troopers as Esinon hopped out of her speeder,

"Hey buddy!" she said, kneeling down to greet the droid.

"We're glad you made it back sir," Cody as Esinon got back up, "It's getting pretty nasty out there." she was about to respond but Chairman Cho interrupted her.

"What did you find out there?" he asked,

"Well, it seems we've stumbled on an inhabited planet," Obi-Wan explained,

"They're really nice and like hugs," Esinon said cheerily,

"Impossible. Our explorers have spent much time here over the long history of Pantora. No one lives here. They must be trespassers!" Esinon began to speak up but Obi-Wan put a hand out and shook his head,

"With all respect, Chairman Cho, these creatures, the Talz, aren't advanced enough to have mastered space travel. I think they may have been here longer than Pantora." Master Kenobi explained,

"Whoever they are, they belong to us. This whole system belongs to us!" he declared,

"Your majesty, if there are life forms here, then the Senate must decide jurisdiction." Senator Chuchi attempted to communicate,

"They are savages, look what they've done!" Chairman Cho said, motioning the base behind him. "They've slaughtered your troops!"

"They only want to be left alone," Esinon said, "The droids attacked them and our outpost got caught in the middle."

"They must be subdued. They're dangerous. Captain Rex, Captain Cody, prepare your men for battle. Esinon signaled for them to stay,

"We promised their leader there would be no retaliation," Esinon said,

"We've arranged a meeting between their high council and you and the Senator. They want peace."

"We can't send troopers they'll think we lied. It will only provoke them, and we'll lose lives," she said firmly, thinking about all of her friends in the 501st and 212th.

"Those creatures are little more than animals. You can't lie to an animal. They can't be trusted."

"But you're majesty-" Senator Chuchi started,

"No, it's obvious those creatures are not covered by the Convention of Civilized Systems. The Jedi Council has no say in this matter," he said,

"But if the Jedi can communicate with them, their status is in doubt." Senator Chuchi tried to argue.

"Do you stand against the Chairman, Senator?" he said,

"Of course not your majesty," she replied, a little bit frantically.

"If we are to meet with Thi-Sen and his council, at the arranged time, we will have to leave now."

"Alright," the Chairman finally conceded, she followed after the Pantorans for a moment before meeting up with Rex and Cody,

"Sir, the gunships can't take off in this kind of weather, and we don't have enough speeder bikes for a whole platoon."

"Alright, have the rest of the men stand by here. I don't care what the Chairman thinks, we aren't going to war. If those Talz wanted to lay us out, they would have." she said, she hopped into a speeder, taking off with the others.

**A few minutes later…**

She ran over to her Master,

"We will attack as soon as the savages arrive," The Chairman tried to instruct Rex,

"There will be no attack Chairman," Obi-Wan said firmly,

"You will listen to my commands! I have control over this planet!" he shouted angrily,

"Nothing is in your control Chairman, the Talz are already here," Master Kenobi said calmly, she could sense the Talz coming over the ridge,

"Their scouts have been following us for some time now," Esinon said, walking with her Master,

"It seems Thi-Sen doesn't trust you any more than you trust him." the Talz popped out of the snow surrounding the troopers and Pantorans.

"Rex, tell your men to stand down. Stay here and don't provoke them," she instructed,

"Yes sir," he replied, she followed her Master into the Separatist base, where they met Thi-Sen,

"Your highness, we have returned," the two Jedi bowed, Threepio walked up quickly conversing with Thi-Sen.

"These savages have no rights here." the Chairman growled, Esinon took a deep breath trying to keep her frustration with the Chairman at bay.

"Chieftain Thi-Sen welcomes you to his home and hopes you come in peace. He wishes to be good neighbors, but he does not wish you to remain on his planet." Threepio explained,

"Listen droid," the Chairman growled, grabbing Threepio's arm, "Translate everything I say, and exactly as I say it." Senator Chuchi stepped in trying to calm the Chairman,

"Chairman, would you like me to represent Pantora in this matter?"

"Not on your life Senator. There will be no diplomacy this time," he growled, ripping his arm away from Senator Chuchi, he shoved Threepio out of the way waving an accusatory finger in Thi-Sen's face, "Listen here savages! This world belongs to the moon of Pantora. And as the supreme Chairman, and exalted ruler of Pantora, you will not command me to leave this planet or do anything else." Senator Chuchi wiggled her way between the Chairman and the Talz.

"You're majesty we can't," he pushed her out of the way,

"Droid, tell him!" Chairman Cho shouted angrily,

"Oh, dear" Threepio murmured,

"Chairman, I suggest a less confrontational discussion. The Talz are easily provoked," Obi-Wan said, trying to reason with the Chairman, Thi-Sen roared in disgust,

"Chairman, we promised Thi-Sen that we would leave in peace," Esinon argued,

"This is now an internal Pantoran affair." Obi-Wan stepped in between his young padawan and the hotheaded Chairman. Thi-Sen roared again,

"The great Thi-Sen 'Son of Suns,' asks again that you leave or it will mean war." Threepio translated,

"Then war it is," the Chairman declared. Esinon shook her head, as Thi-Sen and his warriors pushed past the Chairman exiting the base.

"What's going on General?" Rex asked, confusedly,

"You're going to stay with the Chairman until we can work things out." Obi-Wan said, "Protect him at all costs."

"Mount up! We're moving out!" Rex called his men. The two Jedi met up with Senator Chuchi,

"The Chairman does realize that a preemptive strike is illegal. Is there anything you can do to stop him?" Esinon asked,

"I'm afraid not. He has proclaimed this conflict an internal affair." Senator Chuchi said discouragingly,

"You could petition the Jedi Council for an intervention." Obi-Wan offered,

"You mean… without his permission?" she asked nervously,

"There must be someone on your moon who could approve it," Esinon added,

"The Speaker of the Assembly. He has the power." Senator Chuchi said hopefully,

"We better get back to base. The storm is letting up,"

**Twenty minutes later…**

Esinon nervously paced the interior of the gunship while Senator Chuchi negotiated with the Speaker of the Assembly.

"Esinon, I need you to take a deep breath." Obi-Wan sensing his padawan's anxiety,

"It's just we haven't heard from Rex and Cody in a while, and I'm just worried," she replied rubbing her fingers over the kyber crystal around her neck.

"I'm sure they're fine."

"I'm just frustrated that Chairman Cho wouldn't listen to us. We're the ones on the front lines fighting this war, so why wouldn't he just listen to our judgment? He's just losing us valuable lives, lives of people who are my friends." she said, Esinon quickly became friends with the clones. Every time she had something she feared to lose, Master Windu and Master Yoda had informed Obi-Wan of this, and that she struggled with attachment and trust issues.

"You have to remember that Rex and Cody won't be around forever, as a Jedi you must be prepared to let them go, but also have some faith in them, they both are extremely smart and know what they're doing." Senator Chuchi waved them over, they peeked over her shoulder to see the hologram of the Speaker of the Assembly,

"The Assembly has decided the actions of Chairman Cho are out of order. Senator Chuchi, you are given the authority to negotiate a peaceful settlement between the sovereign planet of Pantora and the Talz.

"It is decided then," Obi-Wan said,

"Pilot, let's get moving," Esinon said,

"Yes sir," he said taking off,

"Senator, now that you have the authority, how do you plan on making peace with the Talz?" Master Kenobi,

"Actually Master Jedi, since you're far more experienced, I was hoping you could negotiate on Pantora's behalf," she said hopefully, Obi-Wan and Esinon shared a knowing look,

"I'm afraid that's not possible, Senator." Master Kenobi said,

"But I don't understand. The Jedi serve the Senate. I must order you-"

"Senator, it is your people the Talz are at war with. If the violence is to stop, it is you who must represent your people." Master Kenobi said the gunships landed letting out the reinforcements, each side holding their positions.

"Hello sir," Rex greeted, she noticed a cut on his left arm,

"Are you ok Rex?" she asked,

"Eh, it's just a scratch," he said waving it off, she looked around,

"What's going on here?" she asked,

"We're in quite a mess, sir. Eleven dead, the rest wounded, including the Chairman," he said, she saw the Chairman struggling to get up,

"Rest Chairman, you're extremely injured," Rex said, Senator Chuchi got down next to him,

"Chairman, can you hear me?"

"Senator, good. You must avenge me. As my final command as Chairman of Pantora, I order you to destroy the Talz." he panted, his breath ragged and struggled,

"I'm afraid I cannot do that Chairman. The Speaker of the Assembly has called you out of order. I am to negotiate peace." she calmly explained,

"No, impossible. Peace? Never. I died for our people." the Chairman panted, collapsing, taking his last breath. Esinon his behind Obi-Wan not wanting to look. The creatures howled in the distance the Talz waiting to attack.

"Senator, the time is now." Master Kenobi said, Senator Chuchi nodded grabbing the Chairman's helmet off, she pulled a spear out of the ground.

"Protocol Droid, come with me." Senator Chuchi said,

"Go on Threepio, it's alright." Esinon nudged,

"Yes Mistress Esinon," he said, walking, Spinner gave a low worried whistle,

"It'll be ok buddy," she said rubbing his head, Thi-Sen rode forward meeting Senator Chuchi. She stabbed her spear into the ground,

"To die for one's people is a great sacrifice. To live for one's people is an even greater sacrifice." she placed the Chairman's helmet on top of the spear, "I chose to live for my people, what do you choose?" Thi-Sen raised his spear stabbing it into the ground,

"He chooses to live for his people as well!" Threepio translated happily.

"We will leave the planet of Orto Plutonia under the watchful eye of the Talz, and we will recognize your sovereignty as a free and equal people." Senator Chuchi declared, the two bowed to each other before the Talz rode off. Esinon helped up Spark, supporting the wounded soldier as they made the walk to the gunship.

"Don't worry, we'll get you help real soon. Just a little longer." she said calmly, soon everyone had loaded up into the gunships. They took off from Orto Plutonia, leaving the Talz to live in peace.

**Back on the Negotiator…**

Since Kix and Drummer were overloaded with wounded troopers, Esinon decided to go find a way to make herself useful, surely they would have something for her to do.

"Come on Spinner, let's see how we can help before I have meditation," she said to the droid walking down the hall to the med bay. She looked around, troopers crowded onto tables, the two medics a little overwhelmed, trying to help everyone. Kix looked up from what he was doing,

"Please don't tell me you're injured too," he said somewhat exasperated,

"No, I came to see if I could help,"

"Those four over there need bandages and bacta spray," he said motioning to a group of troopers. She nodded,

"Stay here Spinner, it's a little crowded." the droid beeped sadly but obeyed, she walked over, grabbing bacta spray and bandages. She worked quietly, giving a few soothing words every time a soldier would wince. Soon the med bay was cleared, and Drummer looked like he was about to fall asleep, Spinner came into the room meeting his new friend, "Did Rex ever pass through here?"

"No sir, I didn't see the Captain," Kix said, packing up a few things. She pressed her comlink,

"Yes sir?" he asked,

"Hey Rex, I need you in the med bay," she said,

"Yes sir," the communication ended,

"Drummer, Kix, you guys get some rest, I'll finish up here," she said, pulling Kix's clipboard out of his hands,

"Are you sure Commander?"

"Positive, now get to bed," she instructed, the two medics nodded walking out of the room, soon Rex entered,

"What did you need Commander?" he asked, she spotted the still bloody cut on his arm,

"I knew it," she murmured, "Sit down, I'll fix your arm." he pulled off his pauldron so she could get to his cut easier. She sprayed it with bacta, he flinched away for a moment,

"Ouch," she wrapped a bandage around it,

"There you go, that was a pretty deep 'scratch'." Spinner chirped in agreement, "Ignoring injuries is my bit, you don't want Drummer chasing you around with a sedative do you?" she joked,

"Jokes on you because he already has." Rex retorted playfully, Esinon grinned at the Captain, "Thank you, sir,"

"No problem Rex, now you better get out of here before Master Kenobi finds something else for you to do," she said, shooing him out of the medbay.

**This is a little off-topic, but I was watching the new episode of clone wars and we stan Ahsoka in a jumpsuit. **


	8. The Blue Shadow Virus

**Hey! I'm back! Thank you for all the support, and without further ado... Blue Shadow Virus **

**A few days later…**

"I'm bored," Esinon mumbled laying on the floor of the training dojo after a recent defeat by Ahsoka.

"We've been training for hours, we should do something else." Xavier agreed,

"Well what do you want to do, it's not like we have many places to go," Ahsoka said, replacing her saber on her belt.

"True, we could go visit Senator Clovis, I'm sure he wouldn't mind that it isn't Centaxday" Esinon offered, Centaxday is the day she had her lessons about Scipio and politics,

"Maybe Senator Amidala is there too," Ahsoka's comlink chirped,

"Snips, that chem homework better be done," Anakin said through the comlink, Ahsoka's eyes went wide.

"Yeah, I'm just finishing it up now," she said quickly,

"Speedy, that means you too. And Xavier," he added, obviously Master Skywalker was with Master Kenobi and Master Plo.

"We will Master Skywalker," Esinon answered, getting up off the floor, the transmission ending.

"I guess that answers the question of what we're gonna do," Xavier said,

"You guys want a lift to the library?" Esinon asked,

"Sure," they both replied, Esinon put a hand on each of their shoulders rushing them into the library. With a little help from each other, the padawans finished their homework. Esinon decided to walk by herself around the temple, sometimes it was harder to slow down now because of her speed, so she tried to take slow walks alone every day to center herself. Master Kenobi was constantly reminding her to be conscious of her emotions and to remember that she is a peacekeeper, not a soldier. She returned to her quarters, turning some music on her datapad going back to work on her personal project,

**A few hours later…**

Her comlink buzzed,

"Windcaster here," she said, still focused on what she was doing.

"Esinon, we have a new assignment, meet me at the Resolute." her Master said,

"Coming Master," she ended the transmission, "Come on Spinner." she pulled on her boots walking down to the hanger. She climbed onto the _Resolute _meeting her Master on the deck. "What are we up against?"

"We have gotten a call from Naboo. They have discovered a secret lab of some sort, Senator Amidala and Representative Binks are there now. We are simply to go and investigate and if so, stop a Separatist attack." he explained, "Make sure Spinner is ready if we need his scanners." Spinner beeped excitedly at the mention of his name,

"Are you excited, buddy? A new planet!" she said rubbing his head. He spun his head excitedly, twittering.

"You two are quite the pair," Obi-Wan muttered, Anakin and Ahsoka soon joined them on the bridge.

"How long until we arrive on Naboo?" Anakin asked Esinon could sense his anxiety.

"Twenty minutes or so." Obi-Wan responded, "Are Rex and his men ready?"

"They always are," he said relaxing a bit,

"This should be fun," Esinon said joining Ahsoka at the window.

"When we all get together it's bound to be," she said, soon they dropped out of hyperspace in front of the sprawling planet of Naboo.

"Rex has the men on standby." Anakin said, "Come on Snips, let's go." the four Jedi and the astromech loaded into a gunship heading down for the planet's surface. They landed in the hanger, the doors opening, revealing the queen, Captain Typho, Threepio, and a pink Gungan.

"General Kenobi, Anakin, we're so glad you're here."

"Where's Senator Amidala?" he asked quickly,

"She went off to search for the lab." Captain Typho,

"And you let her go?!" Anakin asked frustratedly,

"Senator Padme can be very hard to stop when she has made up her mind," Threepio said,

"Good point. I know what you mean." Anakin said,

"This is Peppi Bow, she was the last one to see them. Padme sent her here for safety." Captain Typho explained,

"Theysa looking for the sick-maker," she said,

"They?" Esinon asked,

"Representative Binks is with her," Spinner let out a tense whistle,

"You two, go with the Gungan, see if you can find them," Anakin said to Esinon and Ahsoka.

"You got it, Master," Ahsoka said, the three walked off.

"Come with mesa," Peppi said, she led them to a shaak outside. "Weesa can ride on mesa shaak to find the sick-maker." Peppi jumped on, the two Jedi padawans following. After what seemed like hours of riding, the sun had sunk far into the sky, they spotted a ship. "Dis da ship belonging to them."

"So where are they?" Ahsoka asked looking around the Senator and Representative. They jumped off the shaak, Esinon knelt down touching the Gungan footprint along with the footprint of Senator Amidala.

"Their tracks end here." a whirring emitted from the ground lifting Peppi off the ground.

"It's a scope," Ahsoka whispered ducking behind the camera, Esinon shifted her position as the camera moved.

"Don't let it see you," Esinon whispered, Ahsoka dove behind a bush. Peppi struggling to keep her balance, Esinon tackled the Gungan off of the scope landing behind the bush with Ahsoka. The three of them looked at each other, "Looks like we found our lab."

"We better contact Master Skywalker," Ahsoka said, pressing her comlink. "Master, Master are you there?"

"Did you find her?"

"Negative, I'm pretty sure she's inside the lab," Ahsoka said,

"The whole area is wired with pressure sensors. There's no way of getting in without being detected." Esinon said,

"But we're more than happy-" Ahsoka began,

"Do not attempt to get inside," Obi-Wan said sternly, a holo map of the underground lab appeared, "I need you two to detonate a bunker bomb at the south end of the facility. It should cause a nice distraction and seal off the bomb area while we come in through hatches."

"You can on count us," Esinon said smiling,

"Rex and his men will be right behind you Speedy. They'll have Ahsoka and your back."

**Twenty minutes later…**

Peppi called her shaak over, Esinon pulled a charge out of her belt. She used the force to slowly float it over the clearing, the scopes came out again, she quickly moved it behind a plant. She waited until the coast was clear, Ahsoka put a hand on her shoulder giving her extra concentration, Esinon closed her eyes,

"Now," she dropped the bomb, sending fire and debris over them. Ahsoka tackled Peppi to the ground as they waited for the explosion to quiet, Esinon and Ahsoka jumped to their feet,

"Meesa come too?" Peppi asked,

"No, stay here and make sure no one escapes," Ahsoka said,

"Let's go," Esinon said, the gunships flying overhead, she ignited her saber diving into the hole. She landed deflecting blasts, Ahsoka close behind more troopers dropping in behind them. The two Jedi led the way pushing forward slicing through droids, she crouched stabbing her saber through one, sweeping her leg through the feet of another. She ducked into a roll, slicing through a B2. Destroyers rolled through the hallway, and began firing,

"Fall back!" Ahsoka shouted, they all started backing up, still deflecting blasts.

"We can't hold them much longer," Esinon said, deflecting another bolt. A low rumbling emitted from the ceiling, it collapsed in on itself. Esinon waved the dust out of her face, seeing Master Kenobi and bomb squad troopers standing on top of the rubble, and Obi-Wan had a very satisfied look on his face.

"Need a little help?" he asked,

"So good to see you Master Kenobi," Esinon said relieved,

"Well, things are going well." he said, everyone taking off running, "The lab is secure, and hopefully Anakin has reached Padme by now." they came around a corner, lightsabers at the defensive meeting a squadron of droids,

"I'll get to the bombs,"

"We'll keep the droids occupied," Esinon said, striking a bolt back at the droid. Soon they had cleaned up the droids and took off running down the hall looking for more. Ahsoka's comlink chirped,

"We have a new problem. Send all the clones to search the facility. We'v-" the two parties ran into each other,

"Master?" Ahsoka asked,

"We've got a missing bomb and a trigger-mad happy doctor on the loose." Master Skywalker quickly explained,

"A missing bomb? I saw Dr. Vindi give a little droid a bomb." Padme exclaimed,

"You guys split up, find that droid," Anakin instructed, he ran off with his squadron,

"You heard him, let's move," Ahsoka said,

"I'll do a quick rundown of the base," Esinon said, taking off, Rex stared for a minute at the spot where Esinon had just been,

"That never gets old," he muttered following Ahsoka, Esinon zipped past troopers searching the entire base. The droid was nowhere to be found, she was about to do another pass when her comlink buzzed,

"Speedy, we've got a new problem, I need you to come phase me through, I'm at the landing platform," Anakin grunted,

"On my way," she took off, she saw a bunch of troopers waiting while Anakin was struggling to cut through a large door.

"We gotta hurry,"

"Everyone grab hands, this is gonna feel a little weird." she grabbed Anakin's hand and the trooper opposite her, she closed her eyes vibrating every single molecule in her body, "Step through the door," she brought everyone with her through the door. Dr. Vindi immediately began firing at them, Esinon quickly opened the blast door letting Master Kenobi in.

"Go get Ahsoka," Master Kenobi instructed, she nodded, running off, she met Ahsoka in a gardening room.

"Master Kenobi needs you, I'll handle this," she said, Esinon rushed Ahsoka to the landing platform. She came back where the bomb squad was working on disarming the final bomb. They were getting down to the final seconds, three, two, one, Bomber clipped the wire,

"Deactivated. Plenty of time to spare." Esinon sighed in relief.

"Plenty of-" Jar Jar passed out,

"Alright everyone as fun as this was, we've got a big mess to clean up. Bomb squad, empty all the bombs of the virus and get them to a secure location. Rex, you and the other come with me."

"Yes sir," they saluted her before leaving, her comlink buzzed,

"Esinon, Esinon, are you still there?" Master Kenobi asked,

"I'm here Master, the bomb's been deactivated. Did you find Vindi?"

"We have him under arrest," Anakin's voice came onto the com,

"Did you find Padme?"

"She's right next to me. I'm okay too, thanks for asking," she said adopting her Master's sarcastic tone.

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon grabbed the foot of a droid dragging him into the pile,

"That was way too close for comfort," Rex said, talking about the threat they had just thwarted. "If that virus had escaped, everyone on Naboo would be dead now." Esinon sighed,

"Oh well, just another boring day saving the universe." a loud alarm went off throughout the base, she pressed her comlink, "Padme, what's going on?"

"That droid still has the blue shadow virus vile." Esinon looked up to the troopers around,

"Fan out, we have to find that droid." she pressed her comlink, "Bomb squad, a droid got ahold of a vile, check every single bomb again, now."

"Yes sir," an explosion sounded from far off, an even louder alarm blared, the hallways shrouded in red light,

"Virus leak! We have to get to the safe room!" Rex shouted everyone took off running towards a safe room. The virus was close on their tails, tendrils of cobalt blue mist swirled towards them threatening to grab hold, doors to safe rooms closed, bang, bang, bang, the doors are closing faster than they can run, she spots a safe room at the end of the hall still open, faster, faster, "Hurry! The doors are closing!" The first two troopers jumped through, Rex climbing in next, wedging a blaster between the doors trying to hold it.

"I got it," Esinon used the force to hold the doors, she struggled against the weight and force of the closing doors, "Get inside Captain!" he helped everyone inside, she would only have a split second to get inside herself.

"Hurry!" She used her speed to dive through the closing gap, landing on her back, sliding towards the wall.

"Are you alright Commander?" Rex asked helping her to her feet,

"I'm fine," her comlink twittered,

"Esinon, what's going on down there?" Anakin's voice asked,

"The droids released the virus but we managed to seal the lab," she replied,

"And Padme?"

"I haven't heard from her since the bomb," she said,

"Ok, stay safe," he said, the transmission.

"Oh no, no, no," Denal exclaimed, "Some of the virus got in here. We didn't close the door fast enough." Rex sighed looking at Esinon,

"We may be dead men, but we can still stop those droids."

"Hold on, we're not dead yet. I'm sure that my Master is already searching for an antidote. I've read about the blue shadow, it takes forty - eight hours to be fatal. Now, let's stop moping and go stop those droids because if they get out so does the virus." she said,

"Is anyone there? Can anyone hear me?" Padme's voice came over her comlink,

"Senator Amidala, we're trapped in a safe room at the end of complex B."

"We'll be right there. Are you contaminated?" she asked, she heard a trooper coughing, the virus was already taking effect.

"I'm afraid so."

"We're almost there," Esinon walked over to Zeer and Attie who were still coughing and struggling to get air, she grabbed their hands.

"I have an idea," she went into a half phase, sending quick vibrations from her into them. Nothing happened, "Sorry, I thought maybe I could phase it out."

"Esinon, we're here," Padme said,

"Can you get the door open?"

"Go ahead Jar Jar," the blast door opened, the blue cloud flooding the room. She walked over to Esinon placing a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry, Esinon."

"Don't worry about us, Senator. We still have a job to do," she said determinedly,

"There aren't very many droids left, we saw some heading towards the south entrance."

"As long as we're able, we'll help you destroy the droids before they breach the compound." Esinon said, "Let's move out,"

"You take the north corridor, I'll take the south," Padme said, taking the blaster Rex was offering to her,

"Zeer, Attie, go with the Senator. Rex, Denal you're with me. No droid breaches this compound, and that is final. Is that understood?"

"Sir, yes sir," they all answered, placing their helmets on their heads.

"Move out," she said, taking off running, splitting up from Padme. They crept around a corner, she could the mechanical tapping of droid feet. She jumped around the corner slicing through a droid, with Rex and Denal taking out the other two. They rushed through the hallways taking out the droids, Esinon spotted a droid climbing up a hatch, and Padme running with her squad.

"Stop!" Padme yelled, "Don't open that hatch!"

"Haha! You can't stop me!" the droid cackled, he fired a blast ricocheting destroying himself.

"Well that was easy," Esinon said, "There are more droids in the base, let's go." the two squadrons took off together, Esinon could already hear the rumble of destroyers. They set up firing at the squadrons, Esinon leaped, running across the wall, landing on top of a destroyer, she inserted her hilt through the shield, igniting the blade, fire continuing. She jumped doing the same thing to the next droid, she jumped off landing in a crouch. She noticed Senator Amidala on the floor, "Senator!"

"Senator, your suit's been compromised," Zeer said, helping her to her feet.

"I'm so sorry," Esinon said, feeling ashamed of herself for not being more watchful, she should have made protecting the Senator her priority. She pried off her helmet,

"Don't blame yourself," Padme said kindly staring into Esinon's eyes. The virus was taking its toll on the young Jedi. Dark circles were forming around her eyes, blue veins coming up from her paling skin. "These things tend to happen in a war zone." Padme quickly ditched the suit and they continued through the base. They were down to the last of the droids, she could hear the sound of cutting, Esinon turned a corner spotting the two droids.

"There they are!" she dashed forward, blue blade flashing, she sliced through the legs of the first one, it fell, she stabbed her saber through its head. She used the force to drag the second one down, swiftly slicing through it. A dizzy spell came over her, she stumbled back before falling forwards into the ladder, "Argh," she grunted, it was getting harder to breathe, her throat and lungs felt like they were on fire, this sucked, she didn't think it was gonna be this bad. Each movement was becoming more and more stiff, like her whole body would lock and just topple over, like a bowling pin.

"Esinon!" Padme came over, checking on the young padawan.

"I'm alright, that was just too fast," she murmured,

"Let's get back to that safe room," Padme said, helping Esinon forward.

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon set her comlink out in front of them contacting Master Kenobi, Master Skywalker answered,

"All of the droids have been destroyed," she paused struggling to get more air, "inside the compound, Master Skywalker. Naboo is safe from further contamination. I repeat Naboo is safe." another cough rattled her weak frame,

"Promise me no one will ever open this bunker again. Goodbye Anakin." Senator Amidala said, ending the transmission. Their fate was imminent now, Esinon couldn't bear the thought. This is where she was destined to die. She struggled to stay on her feet, while Rex and Padme attended to the other soldiers. "What a waste."

"With all due respect Senator, it's what these men were born to do," Rex said sadly,

"I hope that their sacrifice brings us closer to peace." Senator Amidala said,

"It will…" Esinon replied weakly, "You have to belie-" she never finished, her eyes closing as she fell towards the ground,

"Esinon!" Padme shouted Rex ran over catching the young commander before she could hit the ground,

"Commander, Commander, Esinon!" he called, trying to shake her awake. Padme quickly took a pulse,

"She's alive,"

"I thought she said we had forty-eight hours," Rex said, sitting down holding the young girl in his arms. Padme glanced down at the time on her comlink,

"We have eight hours, but the virus must be taking quicker effect, her being so much younger," Padme said, grabbing a blanket from the pile, she helped Rex wrap Esinon in it.

"General Skywalker will be here to get us out soon." Rex said confidently, "Then we'll be alright."

"I hope so," Padme said sitting down next to him, "I hope so,"

**A few hours later…**

"Clear, clear!" troopers jumped down into the bunker having cleared the area of the virus, and were wearing protective suits just in case. They came running around the corner finding the safe room where the suffering inmates were waiting. They came bearing stretchers and oxygen masks, they quickly took Esinon from Rex's arms, loading her onto a stretcher rushing her to the surface, doing the same with the others. Esinon blinked her eyes coming into the sunlight, she took a deep breath through her oxygen mask, her Master now walking with her stretcher as the medical droids carried it towards the gunships.

"Hey Master," she mumbled, her vision coming into focus.

"Hello, Rex told me you gave him quite a fright," he said,

"I think I passed out or something," she murmured,

"Something like that," he replied, "We're heading back to Theed where

we'll treat you, the medical droid expects you to make a full recovery." "Thank you," she whispered,

"For what?" he asked,

"For coming back, no one's really done that for me before," she muttered, Obi-Wan stared for a moment before she was loaded onto the gunship. She thought he had abandoned her, she thought he wasn't coming back. That girl had been through a lot, and she was only thirteen. He took a deep breath as the rest of the squadron was loaded onto the gunship taking off towards Theed. He and Anakin waved to the gunships as they left, there would be plenty of time to think while they sterilized the rest of the bunker.

**Alright, alright, alright, that was fun! Now, introducing something new I wanted to do at the end of my chapters, Let's make this canon corner. Where I will put something, that should completely be canon, but never will be. **

**First, up on let's make this canon corner: The 501st completely has a tik tok account, managed by Fives, Rex hates being in any of the videos, but Anakin's all for it. It first started as a joke, but then it became something entertaining to do in between missions. As soon as Waxer found out the 501st had an account, he wanted one for the 212th, so he went and asked Cody. Cody, of course, said no. So Waxer went to Esinon. She, of course, said yes on the ground that it was good for the morale of the men, and bringing awareness to the GAR. **

**Ok, I'm done. :) Make sure to leave a review! **


	9. Ryloth

**Xavier's last name is Grerum, just for future reference **

**Theed, one day after the blue shadow virus…**

Echo and Fives had offered to Kix to keep an eye on the troopers, Senator, and young Commander who had been infected by the virus. They had been quarantined of course so the virus wouldn't spread, the two ARCs had been instructed to press a button that would alert the medics if one of the patients was in distress. Fives didn't like waiting. It was of the things that Kamino had tried to drill out of him with his ARC training, but he wasn't overly concerned with being an ARC trooper at the moment, he was more concerned about the sleeping Jedi that lay on the other side of the glass.

"Fives, what's wrong?" Echo asked, not looking up from his datapad, leave it to his brother to sense something was bothering him,

"Nothing, it's nothing," he said, resisting the temptation to start tapping his foot.

"Vod, you know you can't hide this stuff from me."

"I'm just… worried."

"About what?" he asked,

"Commander Windcaster," he replied, the young Commander was a frequent at the clone barracks in her free time, mostly coming to train and go over protocol with Cody. She joined them in sabacc games with Commander Tano and Grerum, they had become as much family to the clones as they were to each other.

"She was awake and responsive, she's gonna be alright Fives,"

"I know… I just can't push away the thought that there's gonna be a complication." he ran a hand over his face, "She's so small," he muttered,

"She's young, that's how it works. Besides she's a Jedi, she's tough, she can beat this," Echo reassured, Fives's comlink buzzed,

"Fives," he answered,

"My ears are burning," Esinon said, they both looked up at her through the glass, she waved at them, "So, what are you guys talking about? And where's Kix?"

"Why? Is something wrong?" Fives asked a little too quickly,

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm fine, just curious," she said, a smile on her face, the color beginning to return to match her vibrant eyes.

"Fives is just a little concerned-" Echo began,

"About all of you," he added quickly, "Virus is a scary thing," She sighed, still exhausted from the residual virus that was still filtering out of her system.

"Yeah, yeah, it is," she muttered, she was gonna be fine, but it was a close call when she had passed out, they weren't sure if she was gonna wake back up. It was a miracle of the force she was alive, Kix said it was because she was just too stubborn to die, just like her Master. She attempted to take a deep breath to steady herself, but instead sent herself into a fit of coughs, they subsided as soon as they started, but Fives had already jumped up a few seconds away from pressing the button to signal Kix to come. "I'm fine," she rasped, clearing her throat again, she winced as she settled back in bed, her muscles still all kinds of stiff.

"Fives, take a deep breath," Echo said, pulling him back to the bench that they were seated at.

"Sorry to worry you guys," she mumbled, her voice scratchy and sore,

"Don't worry about us Commander, focus on getting some rest." Echo said,

"Yeah, you'll want to be able to beat us in sabacc when you're better," Fives said, playfully, finally breaking from his anxious spell.

"I'm gonna kick your butt when I get out here," she joked, they all stared at each other, separated by a pane of glass, her eyes more vibrant and playful than ever. She winked at them before ending the transmission,

"Told you, tough." Echo said, turning his attention back to the datapad. Not even a deadly virus could beat Esinon Windcaster, because she had hope on her side.

**The next day…**

Fives replicated the Scipian markings on his chest plate, over his heart. He went back and forth for a long time about whether he should or not, and whether it would offend her, or worse. Eventually, with some convincing from Echo, he did it. His reasoning wasn't overly complicated. He respected her and she was a fierce warrior. He knows that she would give up her life for any of the clones there and he would do the same for her, and the way he could show that was through his armor.

Esinon was absolutely fascinated with the clones and different traditions they had among themselves, and she knew how much the symbols on their armor meant. She knew the meaning behind Rex's jaig eyes, the eel on his helmet, the sunbursts on Cody's armor, and the handprint on Echo's chest. Esinon explained that Scipian's were people of tradition and despite being a Jedi, she still tried to keep the traditions.

Fives knew that the Commander had his unbending loyalty, even if he never voiced that to her. He decided that if she had a problem with it, even if it was something small, he would just remove it. He was prepared to face her upset, 'you never know until you try' Echo had told him.

The next time he saw her, she had been discharged from the medbay and was on her way to the command center.

"Fives! Your armor!" she exclaimed, she spent the next ten minutes rambling about how she didn't deserve the honor, and fawning over his art skills and comparing them to her own markings. She ended it by snapping a holo so she could show Xavier and Ahsoka later. He was honored that she let him bear her markings, and how much it means to him. How they, well she, represented survival, determination, grace, kindness, and hope. Hope in the face of adversity. Hope for a better tomorrow. Now he had to live up to the power those markings portrayed, and he had no intention of letting her down.

**A few weeks later…**

Esinon walked with Master Kenobi, Xavier, and Master Plo towards the gunships. They were headed to Ryloth to free the starving people from the cold grip of the Separatists.

"First trick will be getting the troops on the ground." Master Kenobi said as the Master and padawan climbed into the gunship.

"If you take the city of Nabat first, we'll have our landing zone." Master Plo said,

"Well, it's time to meet the natives." Master Kenobi said, "Can you speak the native language?"

"Waku," she replied happily,

"I'll take that as a yes," the doors to the gunships closed, she grabbed onto a strap, waving to Xavier, as the Republic cruiser descended towards the planet surface. Their gunships flew out of the hanger, the ship shook while explosions rattled the outside. "We need to remember why we are here. We came to aid the twi'leks. Not destroy their home. Cody,"

"This means we'll be taking it back the hard way. Minimal destruction with blasters and droid poppers only. No rockets or detonators. Keep an eye out for the locals. Is that understood?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" All the clones answered she heard Master Kenobi's comlink chirp,

"Master Kenobi, we can't risk landing the larger transports until you take out those guns." Master Plo said,

"Pull back, we'll handle it." Master Kenobi said Esinon and her Master shared a look.

"Who's up for a challenge? We're getting no reinforcements until we take those guns out of commission." Esinon said,

"Here we go again," Waxer mumbled, the doors to the gunships opened as they landed on the ground. The battalion ran after their General and Commander through the forest, moving towards a large structure, a bunker. Fire rained down upon the clone troopers from the droids, Esinon plastered her back to a tree holding her lightsaber up.

"Go, go, go!" she shouted, taking off running, she deflected the droid's blasts. She darted in between trees, meeting Cody and Master Kenobi.

"That bunker is going to be a problem General," Cody said, Esinon poked her head out from behind on a tree.

"Leave the bunker to me," Esinon said,

"Are you sure Esinon?" Master Kenobi asked,

"Yeah, bring the troops in on my signal." She looked over at Waxer and Boil, "You two wanted action, follow me."

"You heard her Waxer," Boil said, the two troopers took off after their young commander. She ducked behind a rock, the two troopers laying fire. She looked up at the droids in the turrets,

"We have to take them out now," Boil nodded, throwing a droid popper towards the turret. It bounced off the side,

"We've got to get closer to the wall," he said,

"Try again, I'll give you some help," she said, Boil threw the droid popper again, Esinon used the force to shove it forward into the turret. Waxer threw another one, she used the force to do the same thing. The droid popper made a satisfying ding as the droids fell to the ground. She raised her hand, waving Cody and Master Kenobi over, they climbed over the wall. The troopers fanned out quickly securing the bunker, coming into the village.

"The wall is secure, sir," Cody said to Master Kenobi. "Are we moving to the guns?"

"We need to know what the droids have in store for us. Send your best men to scout ahead," he instructed,

"Right away sir, Waxer, Boil, come with me," Cody said,

"The rest of you, we'll set up a base." Master Kenobi said,

**A few hours later…**

All the troops were out scouting, Esinon sat meditating waiting for the troops to come back. A lot of missions were waiting, this mission was a sprint mission. Battle, rest, battle, rest, instead of a long battle that dragged on forever. She heard footsteps coming into the tent, she opened her eyes seeing it was Cody and Wooley,

"Sir, we have a new problem."

"What is it?" Master Kenobi asked,

**A few minutes later…**

They all stood around a holomap,

"We found the guns, they're here in the courtyard here and here," Cody said, pointing to a few spots on the map. "But there's a complication. They've taken the locals hostage and they're using them as shields."

"The twi'lek prisoners will make it difficult, but not impossible," Esinon said,

"I still have a good plan for taking out the guns," Master Kenobi said,

"Getting the villagers out of harm's way is our first priority. I have faith in you General Kenobi. We'll be underway as soon as you have cleared the guns." Master Plo said, his hologram disappearing.

"Cody, we'll go in with everything we have and clear those hostages." Master Kenobi said,

"Yes, sir,"

"You ready for this?" Master Kenobi asked,

"Born," she replied,

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon looked around the groups of troopers, she couldn't see Waxer or Boil anywhere. She pressed her comlink,

"Waxer come in. Boil, please respond. Guys, come in." she said, she tried again, "Waxer, Boil, where are you guys?"

"The men are all set- what's wrong sir?" Cody asked,

"Waxer and Boil aren't responding. It looks like they never returned from scouting. I'm worried, that isn't like them." she said,

"They might have run into some trouble. Sargent, fire up the high power transmitter and see if you can reach Waxer and Boil." Cody called to Reed,

"Yes sir!"

"Esinon! Cody! Let's get the rest of the men moving." Obi-Wan called, "The others will have to catch up." Esinon looked up at the sky, dark clouds rolling over,

"Get ready for any kind of weather, it looks like it might start to rain," Esinon said, they all took off into the streets. They crept down the empty streets of the village, Esinon could sense something coming. She looked down at the ground, the pebbles shaking beneath their feet. A loud roar echoed from the sky, gutaarks came thundering around the corner.

"They're not stopping!" Stopper yelled,

"Aim for their eyes!" Reed yelled Esinon used the force to drag the troopers away from the crazed gutaarks.

"Fall back!" she yelled, blasters, fired at the armored creatures and clone's screams filled the streets. She ignited her saber, it being knocked out of her hand by a charging gutaark. She paused trying to think of come with a solution where she could save everyone,

"Trust in the force," she heard a voice say, it must have been her Master. She reached out her hand towards the gutaarks on her right and left, connecting with them, drawing the animals towards her. She backed up into an alley, Obi-Wan watched his padawan's concentration grow. Reed lifted his blaster to fire, Cody, shoved his blaster downward.

"No, wait." the gutaarks hissed and roared, slowly creeping towards her. She grunted slightly, her brow furrowed, all the clones stared dumbfounded at the small girl taming the wild beasts.

"Incredible," Stopper said awestruck,

"Quiet rookie," Cody snapped, not wanting the commander to lose her focus. Obi-Wan realized fully what Esinon was doing,

"Shoot the bridge," he commanded, the clones let their blasters loose, sending the bridge crumbling putting a barrier. She was momentarily distracted by the falling bridge losing her grip on the creatures. She jumped out of the way as one charged her, she leaped into the air, flipping out of the way of the charing gutaarks. She landed on top of their backs, moving her quick, light feet across them. She ran across the wall landing on the other side of the rubble, she brushed herself off, Cody handing her her lightsaber. A rattling sounded from behind them, Esinon jumped in front of Cody, igniting her saber. The sewer lid bobbled and rattled,

"Don't shoot," she said quickly, sensing they weren't droids. She pushed Cody's blaster down. The sewer lid opened revealing Waxer's helmet, he climbed out with Boil close behind.

"Waxer,"

"Boil," they saluted Esinon,

"Where have you two been? I've been trying to contact you for some time now!" all the clones knew that their Commander's frustration came from a place of care and worry.

"Sir, there is an explanation," Boil said,

"We got sidetracked." a young twi'lek girl popped out from behind Boil's legs. All of Esinon's frustration melted away,

"She's adorable!" Esinon exclaimed, kneeling down to greet the girl.

"I think I see what sidetracked you." Master Kenobi said,

"Hello little one," she said, the girl playfully covered her eyes,

"We found her, and she led us through the tunnels. Knows her way around them pretty well, sir." Waxer explained to Master Kenobi.

"Loonala kwee jannweelo?" Esinon asked she pointed in the direction of the Separatist base.

"Ooh, yana-yana. Wha nerra. Kumee nerra!" the girl exclaimed excitedly, tugging on Boil's hand.

"Numa can lead us through the tunnels to the prisoners," Esinon said, she looked to her Master for the next orders,

"You're the one who can speak twi'lek, what's your plan?" she paused thinking for a minute.

"Cody, we're gonna need a diversion. You'll need to hold them long enough for us to get the villagers to safety. Waxer, Boil, you're with me, Numa will take us through the tunnels. Everybody got that?"

"Sir yes, sir!"

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon carried Numa on her back as they snuck through the tunnels, she could hear a few droids down the hall.

"Yep, this is about the worst job in the droid army." She ignited her saber, the droid looked up from cleaning the cell in front of them. "Huh, uh-uh- What?!" he sighed, "And it just went into overtime." Numa glared at the droid, hugging Esinon tightly, she used the force to close the door.

"Bin-bin kooneena," Numa said, pointing to a doorway coming into view.

"I'll take care of this. You keep her here. Wait for my signal." Esinon instructed, passing Numa off to Waxer. She bounded up the steps, crouching low to survey the area. Ten droids, and a lot of villagers, she spotted statues, they could duck there for a moment and surprise the droids. She signaled Waxer and Boil, climbing farther up the stairs, they ran quickly across the field, ducking behind the statue. She heard an explosion in the distance, it must be Cody's distraction. She nodded to Waxer and Boil, she jumped out from behind it, igniting her lightsaber. Slicing through the two droids at the entrance. The threat was quickly neutralized, she began cutting through the binders around the twi'leks' wrists. Soon all of the villagers were free, "Wa-janeel, wa janeel!" She led them back up the stairs and into the tunnels. She came back out spotting the droids firing at them, "Waxer, Boil, come with me."

"We're with you sir," she ran over to the guns that the droids were commanding. She sliced through three droids surrounding it and used the force to shove the droid out of the control seat. She climbed up into it, starting to shift the control while Waxer and Boil loaded another shell into the gun. She turned the gun towards the others,

"Ready Commander," Waxer said, she took aim firing, Waxer and Boil loading another shell, she fired again, the gun shaking with each blast. A droid got onto the gun firing back, she dove off the seat barely making it off before the blast hit. She was thrown into the ground, sliding through the dirt, her ears ringing, she turned her head, her blurry vision starting to come into focus, she could see Waxer and Boil a few feet away. Numa came running out checking on them, before trying to help Esinon up. She got to her knees, a tactical droid now sat in the gun chair,

"Die Jedi!" he cackled, the barrel pointing at Numa and Esinon, she hugged Numa tightly thinking, this could be it. She simply didn't have the strength to run. She heard yelling and screaming, the twi'lek villagers came running out attacking the droid, ripping it to pieces. Esinon covered Numa's eyes, she still peeked anyway. Republic Cruisers flew overhead, reinforcements have arrived. She saw the 212th and her Master coming around the corner, Waxer, and Boil slowly standing to their feet.

"Esinon, are you alright?" her Master asked,

"Yeah, my ears are just ringing!" she shouted,

"Alright, Esinon, you're shouting, let's go find Drummer," he said, leading his padawan to the 212th medic. Soon Drummer had finished swabbing the inside of Esinon, Waxer, and Boil's ear with bacta,

"Thank you guys, for sticking with me," Esinon said, gratefully to the troopers.

"Of course Commander, that was a great strategy." Waxer said, placing his helmet on his head.

"Well, we're shipping out to the desert soon. Better say your goodbyes," she said, walking out of the med tent.

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon walked with Xavier,

"Well, now that I've done the hard part for you I guess you take over." she joked, he chuckled to himself,

"You mean I have to clean up your mess." Xavier retorted,

"212th! Let's go!" Master Kenobi called,

"Bye Xavier!" she called, meeting up with her Master. She could hear Numa shouting,

"Nerra! Nerra! Nerra!" she waved,

"Sir, what is that she keeps calling us?" Waxer asked,

"Nerra. It means 'brother'." she said, as they began their trek to the next village in the southern hemisphere in the desert.

**Near Lessu…**

Xavier rode inside the tank as they continued across the ridge taking heavy fire from the Separatists, he felt the tank collapse, it was down. He quickly opened the hatch,

"Take cover!" he instructed, he jumped down pressing his hand against the glass, breaking it with the force. He pulled Short out of the cockpit, dragging the trooper with him. He soon met with Master Plo and Wolffe,

"Captain! Bring in the lightning squad." Master Plo said, ducking away from another blast. He grabbed Short out of his padawan's arms,

"I want lightning up here now!" Wolffe shouted into his comlink.

"Get the injured back, Xavier and I are gonna clear the road." Master Plo said, passing Winter over to Wolffe. Plo used the force to shove the tank over the canyon, lightning squad came rushing through the battlefield. Dash and Loop climbed off their walkers,

"They're all yours, General."

"Let's go, Xavier," Master Plo said, climbing onto the walker.

"Right behind you Master," Xavier said, jumping onto his walker.

"We'll lead the way Wolffe." they took off bounding across the rocky terrain. They dodged past fire heading towards the Separatist tanks, Master Plo released fire onto the droids in the command center, Xavier followed his lead. Sinker and Boost threw grenades taking out the tanks, soon the threat was neutralized.

"How many men did we lose?" Master Plo asked Wolffe,

"Thirty-two, I think. Including three command crews of three walkers," he replied,

"The good news is that Master Kenobi has broken enemy lines. We can clear a path straight to the capital now." Master Plo said,

"This battle was costly," Xavier said, thinking about all the men they had lost.

"Which is why we're going to need help to take the city." Master Plo said,

"But from who?" Xavier asked,

"Patience padawan," Master Plo said, "Let's get underway."

**A few minutes later…**

Xavier stared at the hologram meeting standing next to his Master,

"What's your progress, Skywalker?" Chancellor Palpatine asked,

"My fighters have secured control of the fighters around Ryloth." Master Skywalker explained,

"Very good General Skywalker." Chancellor Palpatine replied,

"Master Kenobi has taken the Jixan desert, so the Southern Hemisphere is ours now." Master Plo said, Xavier gave a silent thank you to the force, Esinon would get to go home now.

"Then it is almost over," Senator Free Ta said in relief,

"Unfortunately not yet. The key position is the capital of Lessu. Our spies are certain the Separatist leader Wat Tambor has his command center." Master Plo has explained,

"When taken the city, we have, capture Tambor we must." Master Yoda said,

"It's not going to be easy Master, Tambor has chosen his stronghold well." Xavier said, "The plasma bridge is the only way in or out,"

"I'm afraid a seize could go on indefinitely," Chancellor Palpatine said,

"My people have already suffered so much already," Senator Free Ta said,

"A plan you have to take the bridge, Master Plo, hmm?" Master Yoda asked,

"With our forces stretched so thin, I'm going to enlist the help of the freedom fighters, led by Cham Syndulla." a picture of a twi'lek man appeared on the hologram, so that was who they were getting help from. "His fight against the droids has made him a symbol of freedom for the people."

"Cham Syndulla was a radical before the war. He is very unpredictable." Chancellor Palpatine argued,

"He can't be trusted. I know Syndulla seeks to gain power. We were political rivals." Senator Free Ta said, frustratedly, his hate for Syndulla burning bright,

"We'll leave the politics to you, Senator. We're going to do whatever we have to do to help these people." Master Plo said,

"How about we send you Republic reinforcements instead?" Chancellor Palpatine asked, trying to please everyone.

"There are no reinforcements available, Chancellor." Admiral Yularen said,

"We can't win without Syndulla's help." Master Plo said,

"Besides, with Syndulla's help, we'll be able to cover more terrain at a faster pace since he knows the land much better."

"Commander Grerum makes a valid point, move forward with the plan General Koon." Chancellor Palpatine said,

**A few hours later…**

Xavier climbed off of his walker, staring at the gravestones in front of them. He knelt down running his fingers around a blurg track,

"What makes you think they went this way General?" Wildfire asked,

"Xavier, what do you sense?" Master Plo asked,

"The Resistance fighters ride creatures native to this region called blurg, these tracks are fresh."

"Which means they can't be far," Tiger said, looking out over the landscape.

"Isn't this the spot they were massacred?" Missile asked, motioning to the gravestones.

"Looks like it was a hell of a fight," Tiger remarked, "I wonder who put up these gravestones." a loud roar came from far off,

"Is that them?" Master Plo held up his hand, he made a fist, pointing in the direction of the canyon. They all nodded climbing onto their walkers, jumping down to the next ledge.

**A few minutes later…**

Xavier could hear the droids talking to each other, they were ducked behind a downed Separatist ship. Tiger stepped forward, making a small creek, Master Plo put a finger to his lips, he poked his head slightly over the ruins seeing the droids looking down in the crater. Tiger and Missile ducked down behind it to wait for the right moment to strike. Xavier was starting to get impatient, he was already holding his saber ready to take the droids out. Soon the squadron of droids was going on there way,

"Why didn't we take them out Master?" he asked,

"Maybe if we're patient, the freedom fighters will do it for us." Master Plo said, peeking around the other edge of the ship. Xavier could hear the blasters firing and people yelling,

"Look out! It's an ambush!" the droid screamed,

"Help! It's the resistance!'' Another one yelled, Master Plo ignited his lightsaber, Xavier doing the same as they dashed out from behind the fallen ship. As they made it up over the ridge of the crater, all the droids were destroyed, from behind the wreckage came freedom fighters riding blurgs, pointing blasters at the group.

"Wow," Xavier mumbled, replacing his saber on his belts.

"I was wondering when you'd find me, Master Jedi." Cham Syndulla said,

"General Syndulla, we've come for help." Master Plo said,

"What makes you think you'll get it?" he asked,

"We simply want to talk," he replied,

"Fine, come with us." Cham Syndulla said the freedom fighters herded the two clones and two Jedi towards their base. They walked through the halls of a cave, with different twi'leks lining them. Xavier kept close to Master Plo if at any point the freedom fighters decided they didn't want the Jedi there, this could be unfortunate.

"This is some base you have," Xavier said,

"It has its advantages," Syndulla replied, they passed by cells with blurgs on the inside,

"We saw the graves of many of your people in that battlefield, together we can prevent that from happening again," Xavier paused with Tiger and Missile looking at the blurgs.

"Come here boy, don't be afraid." Xavier coaxed, the blurg coming forward, he placed a gentle hand on the blurg. "That's it,"

"Jigh-sen moof deng-ka," one twi'lek said, Xavier looked over to General Syndulla for a translation.

"He says his blurg is definitely faster than your metal machines," he said,

"I don't know about that," Missile said skeptically, Xavier walked with his Master as they entered a large room, with plenty of twi'lek fighters inside. A little girl ran into Syndulla's arms, another blue twi'lek walking over.

"What is this? A scratch?" he asked, eyeing the arm of the twi'lek. "Gobi, get better I need you."

"Rahn fanyo, Syndulla," he replied,

"We have little food or drink, but it is our tradition to share what we do have with our guests." Xavier looked around, these people were a people of tradition, just like his. He shook his head, shaking memories of Dathomir.

**A few hours later…**

Xavier sat with his Master, watching the twi'leks dance in the firelight,

"I hope you don't mind this," he said motioning to the party that was going on in front of them. "A little distraction goes far to ease the minds of my men."

"You have provided well for your men." Master Plo said,

"All your people." Xavier added, "So why don't you help us free them from this occupation?" Master Plo shot him a look. Xavier mouthed 'sorry' he had the bad habit of talking out of turn.

"I don't trust Senator Taa, his plans for our planet after the war," Syndulla replied,

"The Republic would help you rebuild." Master Plo, "We won't abandon you."

"Your troops will stay for security?" Cham asked,

"Yes, for a time. To keep the peace." Master Plo replied,

"Another armed occupation is not a free Ryloth." Cham said, "How long before I am fighting you Master Jedi?" Master Plo's comlink buzzed, Xavier scooted over peeking over his shoulder to see the transmission.

"Captain Wolffe, what is it?"

"The droids have begun a firebombing campaign, several villages in our sector have been destroyed, sir." he looked around the room falling silent at the news.

"Make the arrangements. I will speak to Senator Taa." General Syndulla said Master Plo nodded,

**A few minutes later…**

Master Plo set the transmitter down as Senator Taa appeared, Xavier could already sense the tension.

"Senator Taa, so glad you could join us from comfortable Coruscant." General Syndulla said with disdain, "Our people have survived, only through me."

"I knew you would try and turn this campaign into a way to take power!" Senator Taa shouted frustratedly, "Need I remind you that it is I who lead our people in the Senate?"

"And it is I who leads our people here." Xavier was getting increasingly frustrated with all the fighting,

"There's not gonna be anything to lead if you two won't quit arguing and just work together for your people!" he snapped, thinking about the occupation his people had under the nightsisters. Master Plo's comlink buzzed,

"General Plo, do you copy?" It was Master Skywalker.

"I hear you Skywalker," he said,

"My ships are taking out as many bombers as fast as they can, Master Plo, but there are just too many," he said, Xavier could hear explosions echoing on the transmission. "I doubt we can stop them all. I suggest you get the people away from the cities."

"You must destroy those bombers, Skywalker. Then meet me at the capital." Master Plo said,

"I'll do what I can," the transmission cut out,

"What can the Separatists hope to gain by burning out homes?" Senator Taa asked sadly,

"Nothing, Wat Tambor spoils for others what he cannot possess." General Syndulla said,

"Then we must act quickly,"

"Senator, your people are hesitant to join us because they're worried there will be another military occupation." Master Plo explained,

"The people have my promise that the troops will leave as soon as Ryloth is free." Senator Taa said,

"General Syndulla, what assurance can you give the Senator that you will not try and seize power?" Master Plo asked,

"I only want to see my people free, Master Jedi. I give my word." Cham replied,

"Then we are in this together," Xavier said, happily,

"Men of Ryloth, the time has come to free ourselves!" General Syndulla announced, cheering erupted throughout the room,

**A few hours later…**

Xavier held onto the turret of the tank, as they drew closer to the city.

"Try and keep up clone!" One of the twi'leks taunted taking off on their blurg, Flash took off after him determined not to lose. He leaped off of the top of the tank, running to meet his Master behind some rocks as they stared at the fortress.

"Tambor is still there," Master Plo said, sensing the Separatist leader. Syndulla stared through a pair of binocs,

"How are we supposed to attack with my people so close?"

"Your people will never be in danger if we can get our walkers across that bridge and into the city. Key is getting control of that bridge."

"Perhaps there is a way," he said, pointing down to a group of droid transports, "My spies have told me those transports are carrying treasure. It's not enough for the Separatists to enslave and murder us. They must rob us too." Xavier shook his head, thinking about his own people, the nightsisters had come and slaughtered his people whenever they felt like it. His village had to comply, or face death, his father had fallen victim to such attacks. He had tried to stand up, but Xavier was left alone until the Jedi showed up and saved him. It was a miracle that the nightsisters hadn't discovered and murdered him as well,

"So, do you think you can get us across that bridge?" he asked, shaking the memories from his mind.

"It's risky. They are usually scanned as they cross."

"At this point, it's our only option." Master Plo said, "Let's do it."

**A few minutes later...**

Xavier, Wolffe, Master Plo, and Comet peered over the ridge as the droid transports were passing by below,

"When we get control of the bridge, you must begin the attack," Master Plo said into his comlink, he leaped off the ridge, quickly slicing through the droid leading the transport and then flipping on top of it.

"That's our cue," Xavier said, leaping down onto the transport with Wolffe and Comet on his tail. Master Plo used his lightsaber to cut a hole, from which they entered. Xavier pressed his comlink,

"Sinker, we'll need you to create a diversion, get the rest of the lightning squad ready."

"Yes sir," they all sat in silence as the transports moved towards the plasma bridge, they were ready to be scanned if it came to that. A few minutes passed when they stopped, Master Plo put his ear up to the wall,

"Here they come," the cargo door opened, revealing the two Jedi, the droids screamed in panic as Xavier and Master Plo quickly disabled them. More fire came in as more droids started attacking, Xavier looked underneath him, the plasma bridge flashing.

"Go, they're shutting down the bridge." Master Plo used the force to throw his two troopers and his padawan to the end of the bridge. They weren't able to get off of it before it turned off. Xavier used the force to pull himself over and then helping Comet and Wolffe, they looked up to see Master Plo leaping off of a droid and landing on the ground. The doors opened, even more droids running out,

"We'll hold them off, get that bridge back up." Master Plo instructed Xavier ignited his green blade, standing with his master.

"Sir yes sir," they said, running forward, Xavier used the force to drag the first droid into his blade, he ran quickly slashing through droid after droid. Keep fighting, keep pushing, last one, the next wave, Master Plo used the force absolutely obliterating the next wave of droids, and then throwing a fallen door, crushing the tank that was advancing. Xavier just kinda stared dumbfounded before looking down at his own hands, he would be able to do that someday. The freedom fighters charged in,

"You take those droids, we'll go find Wat Tambor." Master Plo said, taking off with Xavier close on his tail. They dashed through the city until they reached the hanger, where two B2's and Tambor were waiting, Xavier and Master Plo made quick work of the droids, aiming their sabers at Tambor. "Surrender,"

"General Plo, perhaps we can make a compromise."

"Not when we hold all the cards." Master Plo said Tambor looked up bombers flying towards them,

"It seems a surrender is unnecessary. We will all perish the glory of the Separatist Alliance. Blaster fire and explosions sounded from the sky, two Jedi fighters demolishing the bombers.

"Ahsoka was cutting that close," Xavier muttered,

"Master Skywalker usually is," Master Plo said, the freedom fighters surrounded Tambor.

"What are your terms for surrender?" he asked,

"They're unconditional." Cham Syndulla said blaster poised.

"Agreed," Tambor said,

"I thank you, Master Jedi, and padawan. Today all of Ryloth thanks you."

"You've earned your freedom, General, all of you have."

**A few hours later…**

Cheering echoed through the crowded streets of Ryloth as a parade made its way, with walkers and blurg alike. Xavier and Wolffe glanced at each other sharing a small smile. Ryloth was free and they got to go home.

****Next up on let's make this canon corner: The kama sway: Rex h******as a particularly murderous way of walking when something has ticked him off or he's about to make some stuff go down and it makes his kamas sway, Fives has tried so many times to replicate it once he got his kamas, but can't, everyone knows to get out the way when they see Rex stalking down the hallway with his kama's swaying**

**ok, I'm done, thanks for coming to my TED talk. Make sure to leave a review! **


	10. Bounty Hunters

**A few months later…**

Anakin unlocked the door to the apartment, dropping his keys in the bowl. He flopped onto couch turning on a pod race,

"Who's winning?" Esinon asked he glanced over at the race, Anakin turned his head towards the padawan to see the thirteen-year-old sitting at the dining room table, with a canvas and paints sitting in front of her.

"Mauburn, for now." she dipped her finger into one of the paints, dragging it across the canvas. "Aren't you a little old for finger painting Speedy?"

"No, I'm being abstract. It's for art class," she said, dipping another finger into yellow paint, tapping across the top of the canvas.

"Does Ahsoka have that homework? Do I have to reprimand her?" Anakin asked, tiredly,

"No, Ahsoka's a clan above me," the door to the apartment opened again. Obi-Wan walked in, dropping his keys in the bowl as well,

"Anakin, boots off the couch." Obi-Wan reprimanded,

"I've been home for four seconds," Anakin grumbled, sitting upright.

"Master, can you help me?" Esinon asked,

"With what?" he asked looking over her shoulder at the painting, it was split in half, with the forest of Endor on one side, and snowy mountains of Scipio on the other side. "What is this?"

"We have to make a painting of our home. So that's what I'm doing," she said,

"Well, how can I help?" Obi-Wan asked,

"Give me your finger," she said, Obi-Wan let her guide his hand into brown paint pressing his finger near the top of the canvas. "Master Skywalker," she did the same, "I gotta go to the clone barracks, and then the Senate building." she handed Spinner the brown and yellow, paint, and a towel. She carefully picked up her wet painting, "Bye!"

"Be back by dinner! And you know the rule about droids in the apartment!" Obi-Wan called as the door closed, droids in the apartment was a no-no, they were to stay in the hanger, no matter how much Spinner hated it.

"I know, I won't next time!" she called back, Esinon walked down the halls of the Jedi temple with Spinner close on her tail, the clone barracks were closer so she made the walk, she walked through the common room scanning for Cody and Rex. A few clones nodded to her as she searched, it wasn't super unusual for a Jedi to come to the barracks looking from someone or needing something, but it was a little strange for them to be holding a painting. Soon she found Rex,

"Hi Rex, I need some help from you with my homework," she said,

"Alright, sir, what is it? Chemistry? Geometry?" she held up the painting,

"Art," Rex stared at the painting confusedly,

"Umm, sir, art isn't really my strong suit." he stammered,

"Just give me your finger," she said, she pressed his finger with brown paint to the canvas, "That's all I needed, thanks!"

**A few hours later…**

They all sat around the dinner table,

"So what was with you collecting fingerprints today?" Anakin asked, looking at the drying paint, with a paw print and Ewok ears above it. Underneath were Scipian markings, and a lightsaber underneath that.

"On Endor we have tribes, and each tribe has a signet. Usually, your signet has something representing each clan of the tribe. I was asked to make a painting representing my home, you guys are my tribe now so I thought it only fitting. That's our signet on top." she said,

"That's really nice Esinon, do you have any other homework?" Obi-Wan asked,

"No, I finished everything."

"Good," he said proudly,

"What about you Snips?" Anakin asked,

"All finished Master," she replied,

"Good job," Anakin praised, Esinon smiled, this was her tribe. Everything else didn't matter, Master Fisto, Kenobi, Skywalker, Plo, Ahsoka, Barriss, Xavier, Senators Clovis and Amidala, Rex, and Cody. Her tribe.

**A few days later…**

The death toll rises as the battles intensify and threaten a growing number of Republic worlds, planets are left to survive on their own. While the Jedi struggle to fight a war on many fronts. A series of medical stations have been established as a lifeline for those in need but the facilities are easy prey for Separatist attacks. After losing contact with the medical station orbiting Felucia, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, and Esinon Windcaster are set to investigate…

* * *

Esinon looked out of the window of the ship at the swirling planet of Felucia below,

"That's Felucia, dead ahead," Anakin said,

"But where's the medical station? I don't see anything on my scanners." Ahsoka said, a beeping emitted from her scope, "Hang on, there's something…" a loud whirring sounded from outside the ship as vulture droids shot into the sky.

"Vulture droids," she muttered,

"Hang on!" Anakin shouted he swerved downward as the droids began the chase. The ship spun and jolted as Anakin tried to escape from the attackers,

"Well, I guess we know what happened to the medical station," Obi-Wan said, calmly, a loud crash sounded as the ship jolted,

"That's not good!" Esinon shouted as she almost fell out of her seat.

"They took out the phasma conduit!" the ship plummeted through the atmosphere, hurdling the four towards the ground. "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?"

"Almost certainly not," Obi-Wan said, strapping an oxygen mask over his face. Esinon pulled one over her face as well,

"Looks like we're doing this the hard way," she muttered,

"Starting ejection sequence," Anakin said, Esinon gripped onto her seat taking a deep breath.

"How come every time you fly, we crash?" Ahsoka grumbled,

"It's not my fault! It's the ship!" Anakin shot back, they streaked closer and closer to a rock, Esinon placed her hand on the ejection lever.

"Ready to eject!" she shouted,

"Wait… now!" she pulled the lever a rubber ball encasing her seat sending her flying out of the ship. The ball bounced around jolting the young padawan,

"How come he always blames the ship?" she grumbled, she felt her pod shake to a stop, it burst open. She pulled off her oxygen mask, stepping out of the pod.

"You alright master?" Anakin asked,

"I'm fine Anakin," Obi-Wan grumbled,

"Where on Felucia do you think we are?" she asked as they began to walk,

"I'm not sure," her master replied, a low growling emitted from the stalks around them,

"I don't like the sound of that," Ahsoka whispered,

"And I don't like the look of that." Ginormous armor creatures lumbered by in front of them. All of the Jedi froze, "We don't want to scare 'em." he whispered to Esinon and Ahsoka,

"We can't just wander around aimlessly, we need a plan," Obi-Wan said as soon as the creatures had passed.

"You always taught me to go on instinct." Anakin said, "And my instincts say to go that way." he pointed to a pathway off to the left.

"No that doesn't seem right. I think we should go this way." Master Kenobi said, pointing to a pathway on the right.

"Why do you even ask for my opinion? You never do things my way."

"We crashed the ship your way." Esinon looked up at the sky, smoke spiraling upward,

"Do you see that?" she asked, Ahsoka looked up,

"Yep," their two Master's were still arguing, "And yet again the roles are reversed,"

"Very funny, I see your sense of humor survived the landing." Anakin shot back,

"It's about the only thing," Ahsoka replied,

"If you two are done arguing, there's smoke on the horizon," Esinon said, pointing to the column of smoke in the sky.

"Which means people, and a way off this planet." the two padawans took the lead, Anakin shrugged following after Esinon and Ahsoka.

**One hour later...**

"Look, a village," Ahsoka said, the houses starting to come into view.

"Maybe they have a ship we can… borrow." Anakin said they started to walk through the ghostly streets of the village,

"Looks like they grow some sort of healing herb," Ahsoka said, looking at the crops of the pink plants.

"Nysillim, I think. We just learned about it in class." Esinon said,

"Correct, it's one of the most valuable crops in the galaxy." Master Kenobi replied,

"Well, then where are all the farmers? This place looks deserted." Anakin said,

"I don't believe it is, these crops are ready to be harvested, tools are lying about. No, somethings amiss," Obi-Wan said,

"Well, if there's one thing I learned growing up. If you want to know what a farmer's up to, look in his barn." Anakin said he pressed the button the door whooshed open a razorcrest sat inside the barn.

"Strange ship for farmers," Esinon remarked,

"Esinon, recon," Obi-Wan said, she nodded, taking off quickly searching a good portion of the houses. She walked up the catwalk of another house, the blast door opening, she could sense life but from where? She pushed a table out of the way, a hatch sat underneath, she ignited her lightsaber using the force to open the hatch. Farmers scooted out of the light, looking up at her terrified.

"Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you-" she felt a blaster press to the back of her head.

"Kindly drop your weapon Jedi." Esinon placed both feet over the hatch, as she studied the four bounty hunters now in the room with her.

"I don't want any trouble."

"We have you four to one," the woman on the right said,

"I'm likin' those odds," she said, confidently holding her saber up.

"Make that three on four," Master Skywalker said as he and Ahsoka walked up the catwalk.

"Four on four," the metal bot turned around holding up a saw towards Master Kenobi, the four Jedi shared a smile now evenly matched with the bounty hunters.

"Stop! Don't harm them!" a farmer shouted running into the room, "Can't you see these are Jedi? We are saved!"

"You already made a deal with us." the female zabrak said,

"But they can help." the farmer argued,

"Help you with what?" Esinon asked,

"Pirates."

**That night…**

"Simply stated, if we don't give a portion of our crops to the pirates, they will destroy our homes with us in them," Cassis explained, Esinon fiddling with her fork as little ones ran around playing in the small hut.

"Hmm, I see your dilemma." Master Kenobi said,

"Sillum farming is a meager trade. Without our herbs to sell, we will have no money for food, fuel, or equipment," he said,

"And yet you can afford to pay mercenaries?" Master Kenobi inquired, Sugi, the female zabrak glared at him.

"These bounty hunters drive a far more reasonable bargain than the pirates."

"Why not just fight them yourselves?" Anakin asked, from his position against the wall.

"Easy for you, perhaps," he said, pointing at the Jedi Knight. "But look at us. We are farmers, not warriors." Esinon looked at the farmers, they had skinny arms and stocky legs, they weren't exactly built for combat. "Even with the bounty hunters' help, I had feared the worst. But now there are seven of you!"

"What do you want Jedi?" Sugi asked hostily,

"We need a ship, ours is beyond repair I'm afraid."

"That's the understatement of the millennia," Esinon muttered,

"The ship in the barn will do," Anakin said, Sugi scoffed,

"That's our ride, it doesn't go anywhere without us. And right now we're busy," she said,

"Busy extorting farmers?" Master Kenobi asked,

"I don't hear you offering to help." she retorted,

"Unfortunately, we couldn't help even if we wanted to," he replied,

"What?" Esinon asked in shock, coming out of her daze of sleepiness. Master Kenobi shot her a look,

"I think we'll all step outside," he said, nodding his head towards the door.

"Master, these farmers are in trouble." Esinon said, getting frustrated, "Why can't we help them?"

"Believe me, Esinon I would like nothing more. However, we need to report that the medical station has been destroyed. If we stay too long, the Separatists will show up looking for us here."

"But-" she tried to argue,

"Better they get robbed by pirates then attract the interest of General Grievous and his horde," he said,

"Pirates! Pirates! Pirates!" a villager screamed running past the Jedi, "The pirates are back!" the bounty hunters came out of the hut joining the Jedi as the hum of speeders drew closer. Weequays pulled up on speeders skidding to a halt.

"That's far enough." Sugi stated, "I speak for the people of this village. State your name and business."

"My name is my own business. And my business is taking what's ours." he shot back,

"There's nothing here that's yours unless you're here to buy it."

"Buy it?" she heard a familiar laugh come from a speeder behind the rest, "Kenobi, mini Kenobi. I can't believe you came all this way to see me." Hondo said,

"Hondo," the Master and padawan said, looking at each other and then Hondo.

"You know each other?" Sugi asked,

"Of course we do! Tell them how far back we go Kenobi." Hondo said,

"A little too far," Esinon grumbled thinking of their unpleasant last encounter.

"Haha! Mini Kenobi, and here I thought we were friends," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder, she pushed his hand off,

"If you're truly interested in friendship, Hondo, I suggest you stop threatening these farmers and leave them alone." she retorted,

"Threatening them? Oh please, tell me you have not been listening to this bounty hunter scum?" Hondo asked in disgust,

"Scum?" Obi-Wan put a hand in front of Sugi as she looked ready to deck Hondo right there. "We are just helping these people protect what's theirs."

"Oh come, come, my dear, how much are they paying you?" he asked, she was about to answer when Hondo interrupted, "Doesn't matter. Whatever it is, I will double it. And all you have to do to earn it is… step aside."

"We. Don't. Break. Deals." she growled, jabbing a finger into his chest. Weequays and the other bounty hunters alike whipped out their blasters ready to start a firefight for their leaders.

"Steady everyone," Obi-Wan said, stepping in between Sugi and Hondo.

"What's your stake in this anyway Kenobi?"

"All we want is a ride to the nearest Republic outpost, and I'm willing to pay handsomely for it. Twice what selling this crop would make you," he said,

"Well… how do you plan to pay me?" Hondo asked,

"A funds transfer when we arrive."

"Republic credits?" Hondo clicked his tongue, "We've been over this Kenobi, my associates don't accept that kind of currency."

"I'm offering a deal that benefits us all, Hondo. Don't let your greed blind yourself to that fact."

"You know, I like you Kenobi and your mini-you, but um- no one leaves this planet until I have my sillum," he said,

"Then I hope you like it here because you'll be staying here for a long time, parasite!" Sugi spat,

"You know this crop has not been harvested. You'd better hurry old man, before things start to, uh, die on you?" Hondo said to Cassis, the farmer's eyes glinting slightly with fear. Hondo gave them a nod before taking his crew and leaving, Esinon glared at the Weequays sped away.

**A few minutes later…**

"When the attack comes, it will come from two fronts- the forest in the south, and the ridge from the north." Obi-Wan said motioning to a few spots on the holo-map, "Whatever you do, you must protect both sides."

"But there are only four of them. How can four bounty hunters defend us against so many?" one of the farmers asked,

"These farmers are right. These bounty hunters don't stand a chance." Esinon said,

"We've been over this Esinon," Obi-Wan said, Esinon had the tendency to ignore instructions when she believed she could help people, she had faced Hondo before. Two Jedi and a Sith lord had almost been outmatched by the pirate.

"You seem to lack confidence in our abilities young Jedi."

"I'm positive you're very good at what you do, but I've faced Hondo head-on before and he is more powerful than he looks. At this point, you are in way too deep," she replied,

"Says the peacekeeper who fails to keep the peace." Sugi shot back,

"The rift in the galaxy is not our fault. If more worlds would just stand up for themselves, this war would be long over." Obi-Wan said,

"We dislike the war just as much as you do, trust me," Esinon said, grumpily, Obi-Wan gave her a look, and she shut her mouth.

"Wait, that's it!" Anakin exclaimed, "We'll just train the villagers to defend themselves."

"But we are just simple farmers. Why are we paying bounty hunters if we're just going to end up doing it ourselves?" another asked frustratedly,

"Hush Dilanni," Cassis scolded,

"Trust me, we'll have you ready," Anakin said,

**The next morning…**

Esinon stood by Anakin's side in front of a group of farmers, holding weapons that the Jedi had fashioned out of sticks and farming tools.

"Alright everyone form up," Anakin said, all the farmers looked around scratching their heads, "Uh… divide into rows of five." the farmers stumbled around each other forming the rows. Esinon sighed,

"I told you, we're not soldiers, we don't even have weapons." he stared at the poles for a minute,

"May I?" Anakin asked, the farmer handing him his spear. Anakin tossed it from hand to hand gauging the weight. He started spinning it around his hand and his back, he tossed it to Esinon who did the same bring the spear down swiftly,

"I think these will do just fine," she said, handing the spear back to the farmer. The two Jedi gained their own spears,

"You want to start with basics?" Anakin said,

"The basics of basics," she replied,

**A few hours later…**

Esinon used her foot to scoot a farmer's foot into position, moving his hand further up the pole.

"Two!" Anakin called, demonstrating again, she quickly moved all the farmers with her speed,

"Three!" she called, a farmer lurched forward throwing his spear forward. Embo caught it, another farmer tripped over his own feet falling to the ground. Embo laughed to himself, saying something in a language she couldn't understand, throwing the spear back to the farmer,

"The bounty hunter is right! Every minute you waste teaching us how to twirl these stupid poles is time you could have spent beating the pirates yourself." Dilanni whined, kicking his stick,

"And what good would that do you?" Master Kenobi asked, walking over, "Another band of brigands would inevitably come. Or do you intend to give away part of your crop every harvest?"

"If you do that! There won't be another harvest season!" Dilanni yelled angrily, before storming off. Esinon stared at Dilanni, her thoughts starting to spin like a whirlpool,

"All right everyone, back into position. Let's continue." Anakin said, she snapped back to reality shaking her head. Obi-Wan stayed monitoring their progress, as the sun moved deeper into the sky, the farmers started to improve. Esinon kept getting distracted, her thoughts continuing to spin, Anakin walked over,

"You ok Speedy?" he asked,

"Yeah, I just… are we doing the right thing?" she asked, "What if this gets all of them killed?"

"We're not gonna let that happen, and should it come to it, we'll fight." he said, "Everything is gonna work out," she nodded her head, she could sense something, someone was watching them… she turned her eyes upward, the glint of binocs flashing in her eyes,

"Scout!" she shouted pointing up to the ridge,

"Embo! Get 'em" Sugi yelled, pointing in the direction of the scout, Embo nodded, taking off. Esinon took off after him,

"Esinon! Wait!" Obi-Wan shouted, taking off after his padawan, Esinon fell behind being exhausted with very little eat in the past hours, she bounded up the cliff, catching Embo too late, a dead weequay laying in front of him,

"What have you done?" she gasped, covering her mouth, Embo glared at her, the rest of the Jedi and Sugi catching up.

"Quick work," Anakin muttered,

"Yes, but when this scout fails to report to Hondo, he will be coming." Obi-Wan remarked the rest of them began to walk back Master Kenobi catching Esinon's hand, "What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that Embo was going to kill that scout, and I was right," she said,

"What is with you, this whole mission you've been extremely impulsive and argumentative," he asked,

"Our job is to help people, right? And no one wants to seem to do that anymore! All we do is fight all the time! I thought we were Jedi, peacekeepers." she said frustratedly,

"Is this about what Sugi said?" he asked, she looked at the ground, nodding slightly, "Well, you have to tell me that Esinon. I can't help if you don't tell me. We are doing as much as we can to help these farmers, and it is our duty as Jedi to fight for the Republic, and sometimes war is required to attain peace. You are doing just fine, now I believe we have a battle to prepare for." he said, she nodded, walking after her master.

**A few minutes later… **

"All the farmers are in position, the ones that stuck around anyway," Anakin said, as Esinon and Obi-Wan entered the village.

"Very well, turn the fence on." Master Kenobi said Anakin pressed the button on the remote, a green laser fence turning on making a perimeter around the village. Sugi glanced up at the ridge, speeders with pirates pulling up,

"Battle positions!" she shouted, Esinon ignited her saber as the speeders bolted towards the city, she reached out a hand grabbing onto a speeder grabbing throwing the weequay off. She quickly revved the engines chasing after the speeders heading towards Ahsoka, she fired the blasters splitting one of the speeders away from the group, she stood in a crouch on the seat, using the force to keep the bike steady getting ready to leap to the speeder in front of her. Her feet left the seat, launching herself into the air, tackling the weequay in front of her.

He grabbed the Jedi's arm trying to throw her off the bike, she latched her hand over his eyes trying to get enough leverage to throw the pirate off the bike. The vehicle swerved along the path as she managed to throw the weequay off the bike and flipped off avoiding a collision with the large rock they were headed straight for. She took off at superspeed hearing the loud explosion roar from the village, she spotted a large tank on the ridge above with Hondo in command laughing maniacally, Embo down on the ground obviously injured.

"Everyone fall back to the barn!" Obi-Wan shouted,

"That tank is going to tear the villagers apart," Sugi said, Anakin dashed forward making a desperate attempt to save the villagers,

"I'm sorry Master," Esinon said, taking off towards the tank,

"Esinon! No!" he shouted, she leapt shooting up in the air, landing in a crouch on top of the tank, scaring Hondo, the tank shaking slightly, he came forward holding an electro-staff. She put a hand on the staff, shoving him backward, one, two, she leaped over the sweep of the staff as the tank lurched even more, 'that monkey must be inside', she thought to herself. The cannon went off again, she stabbed her saber through the window trying to catch the devious creature. Hondo brought his staff down swiftly, but Esinon was faster catching it under her saber as they parried and attacked, another blast went off the tank rocking, almost throwing Esinon off balance. Hondo saw his opportunity of the stumbling padawan, throwing a kick to her chest, she landed on her back, the pirate moving in, she shoved her foot into the middle of the staff throwing Hondo back a little bit, giving her enough time to flip out of the way as he brought the staff back down aggressively, he swung catching her saber, the monkey latching onto her leg,

"Get off of me!" She shouted, kicking the monkey off. Hondo took another angry swing, she leapt off the tank sticking the landing.

"Your situation is hopeless, Kenobi," he said, she rolled her eyes, he never bothered to learn her name. The monkey leapt forward screeching, latching onto her face, she wrestled with the monkey for minute throwing it up in the air, Hondo caught her saber again, pushing her back towards the edge of the cliff, she quickly kicked his feet out from under him, ducking under him, throwing him over her back causing him to roll off the edge of the cliff, hanging off by his fingertips. She looked over the edge, the speeders leaving the village. "Help me! Kenobi, let me call off my men!" she holstered her lightsaber pulling the pirate back up over the ledge. He immediately pushed her back, throwing her into the tank, the canon lowering to eye level. Her eyes went wide, she backed away a blast firing, nearly hitting her, another blast, she jumped off the edge dodging the explosion, landing on the ground, stumbling backward. Obi-Wan came running over,

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she mumbled, her ears still ringing slightly, Hondo came towards the edge of the cliff looking down upon them all,

"This effort! Is no longer! Profitable!" he yelled before getting on his ship and leaving the planet. This planet had suffered great damage, but it could be rebuilt, and Hondo wasn't coming back here anytime soon.

**A few minutes later…**

"There are crops to harvest, fields to till, huts to rebuild. Now let's get to work." Cassis said, the farmers dispersing, "How can I ever thank you for saving our village?"

"We didn't save your village, Cassis. Your people did." Anakin said,

"For the first time in my memory, my people don't have to be afraid. We will never forget you." they all bowed to each other,

"I seem to find myself light on company, still need a ride to that Republic outpost?" Sugi asked,

"If it wouldn't be any inconvenience," Obi-Wan said,

"On the contrary, it would be my pleasure" Sugi replied, they all loaded onto the razorcrest. One step at a time, bringing peace where she could, protecting those who could not protect themselves, and being who she was truly meant to be, a Jedi.

**Thank you all for reading!**

**Even though Hondo's a mean pirate, he's a legend dude. **

**Next up on Let's make this canon corner: Fives is a food connoisseur. Remember that clone from Attack of the Clones in the mess hall when they take the shot of the mess, that clone is like staring at his food in absolute disgust. Let's make that Fives before he got his tattoo. After he got off Kamino, he started trying new food and hates the rations since they're so bland. He tries to steal Esinon's speedster bars a lot because they're made with food that tastes good, but she always snatches them away since his metabolism can't handle all the calories. **

**Alright, I'm done. Thank you for the continued support! Make sure to leave a review**


	11. Death Trap

**A few months later...**

Calm before the storm! A rare and welcome one from endless battle awaits Jedi Knights and Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu along with padawan Esinon Windcaster as they travel through deep space aboard Jedi cruiser Endurance. Preparing to rendezvous with a Republic frigate, the Jedi remain unaware of a deadly peril lying hidden in their midst.

* * *

Esinon stretched her arms upward, trying to shake the sleepy from her brain. She had gotten to sleep for a little while, but there was no rest for the weary,

"So what's next?" she asked,

"There's a ship of cadets coming today," Anakin replied,

"Really?" Esinon asked, perking up,

"Yep, get excited Speedy," he said, ruffling her hair,

"Oh I already am," she said,

"Skywalker, the cadets are here," Windu said, walking out of the command center. They walked down the hall, the blast doors opening to a group of ten clone cadets, they all stared in awe of the Jedi

"Morning troops," Anakin greeted,

"Welcome aboard the Jedi cruiser Endurance." Master Windu said, "I am Mace Windu, and this is-"

"Anakin Skywalker." he interrupted, Esinon rolled her eyes, that was a very Anakin thing to do. "Welcome aboard. Today you'll see how a real working Jedi cruiser operates, and you'll have the chance to serve right alongside two Jedi Knights."

"And a padawan," Esinon interjected, wiggling in between the two Knights

"And a padawan,"

"Esinon Windcaster, nice to meet you all," she said, waving, all the cadets began to murmur, exclamations of excitement, the three Jedi shared a look, Windu shaking his head smiling slightly at the now riled up cadets.

"Generals, new orders from General Kenobi await you in the war room immediately," Ponds said, interrupting the moment, Anakin sighed,

"Another time then," he said,

"Masters, if it's alright, may I stay with Crasher and the cadets?" Esinon asked Master Windu and Anakin looked at each other,

"Well, they should probably have one Jedi around," Anakin said,

"If that's alright with you Crasher," Master Windu said,

"I think it will be good for the cadets' sir," he replied,

"Well, that settles it, have fun Speedy." Master Skywalker said as the two knights followed after Ponds,

"Wow, we're gonna get training!"

"That other guy was Anakin Skywalker!" another exclaimed excitedly,

"No way!"

"I heard he's the strongest Jedi." another one replied,

"The strongest Jedi is Obi-Wan Kenobi, he killed a Sith." another boasted,

"Did you ever meet him?" one of the cadets asked hopefully, looking up at her,

"Master Kenobi?" he nodded his head, she laughed to herself for a second, "Yeah, he's my Master."

"What! Then that makes you…"

"Commander Blur," they all said in unified awe. She paused,

"Commander who?" she asked, looking to Crasher, he smiled,

"Your call sign became hard for cadets to learn, so because of your speed, we just shortened it up to Blur." all the cadets started to bombard her with questions,

"What's your top speed?"

"How can you phase?"

"Can you run around a planet?"

"Cadets," Crasher reprimanded, "Stop bombarding the Commander."

"It's ok, I can run about Mach one, I can phase because I learned how to vibrate at the frequency of air," she held up her phasing hand, which caused all the cadets' jaws to drop, "And I haven't tried to run around a planet so that one's still up in the air."

"Wow," they all murmured, she noticed one in the back who still had a scowl on his face, long brown hair covering his face. She would have to keep an eye on him, she could sense something about him.

"To target practice, form up!"

**A few minutes later...**

Driver fired another disk into space, hitting it with a laser blast.

"Looks easy doesn't it," Admiral Killian said, "Well, looks can be deceiving, there's nothing more dangerous in all of space than a moving target."

"What do you use for targets, sir?"

"Malfunctioning droids," Spinner beeped and whistled worriedly, quickly driving behind Esinon's legs.

"Leave my droid alone," Esinon said, as Spinner hid behind her legs. Driver chuckled to himself before turning back to his control panel. "Mechanical skeet packed with explosives is what we actually use."

"Now, this is my ship and my rules. I do not allow tourists on board, only soldiers. Time for target practice," the Admiral said, he walked up the line of cadets, stopping at one with the swoopy hair. "You there, take the gun." he nodded firmly, sitting down in the gunner's chair. She could sense something about this cadet, he was kind, confident, and more mature than the rest.

"Who's that?" she whispered to Crasher, trying not to distract the cadets as they began,

"Jax, he's with the 221st." she watched as he missed, and so did the next cadet,

"A near miss is still a miss kid,"

"The Sergeants right. Training is no match for experience, and it's something all of you lack." Admiral Killian glanced down at the scowly cadet from earlier, "I know that look," Crasher motioned for him to go to the gun. Driver fired a skeet, the kid jumped in the gunner's chair, holding, holding, fire, with one precise shot he hit the target. All the cadets cheered and congratulated their friend,

"I see why they call you Lucky. Well, let's see how you are when the Seppies come at you in a tri-attack. Lucky quickly destroyed all the skeet, Driver stared in surprise, the cadets clapped and cheered and chattered once more,

"Now that's the focus of a Jedi," she said, as Driver sat back down in the chair,

"Alright, alright, cut the chatter men." the cadets fell back in line, "We're due on observation deck 13. Fall out." Spinner fell in line behind the cadets, starting to act semi-like a soldier, Esinon rolled her eyes following after her droid, she walked along with Crasher as they walked through the halls of the Endurance.

"Cadet 115, where's this Jedi cruiser's main stabilizers?"

"Sir, hull 17 behind the main reactors, sir," he replied,

"Good. Cadet 1174, how many engines fail before auxiliary power kicks in?"

"Sir, three on port and starboard sides, sir," he replied,

"Good." Master Windu came around the corner, smiling at the cadets, and looked like he was headed towards his quarters.

"Cadet 327, what reaction propels the main engines of this Jedi cruiser?"

"Pulse combines sparking off the reactor core rods, sir."

"Excellent," Crasher said, impressed, Esinon could sense something was about to happen, loud alarms started to blare throughout the ship, troopers came rushing past, one halted in front of her,

"Commander Windcaster, General Skywalker needs you now," he said, he paused about to explain why when he noticed the cadets,

"Explain on the way,"

"This doesn't look like a drill," Jax muttered,

"You know what to do Sargent," she said, taking off with the other troopers. She soon arrived the smoldering scene, an explosion, an attack on Windu's quarters, she joined Anakin and Master Windu,

"You're lucky to be alive," Master Skywalker remarked,

"And the trooper?" Esinon asked,

"Dead," Windu replied,

"This wasn't an accident," she said,

"Agreed," Esinon crouched down, any evidence the perp left would have been destroyed in the explosion. Someone could be targeting Windu,

"The ship's navigation is nearby," Anakin said,

"Admiral, is the ship's navigation damaged?" Master Windu asked,

"Hobbled, not destroyed," the thick accented Admiral replied, "Systems are repairable, I've ordered a shutdown of all engines until we're fully operational. We'll hold orbit over Vanqor." Esinon shuddered slightly, she hated Vanqor,

"Any signs of attack ships?" Anakin asked, after being stuck on a cruiser for a while, he was probably itching for some action.

"None, but we'll keep scanning," the Killian replied, "until we get navigation back the Endurance is a fat and easy target. I won't have it! Killian out."

"If navigation wasn't the target, then hitting your quarters was intentional," Esinon said, Windu's brow scrunched in a look she knew well, it's the exact same one she made when she was deep in thought.

**A few minutes later…**

"We have a killer on board this ship," Windu announced to the troops in the command center, "And we are locked in dead space,"

"Just like our assassin. We'll form an unbroken line of troopers, and scour the ship from bow to stern, checking every corridor, bulkhead, and storage unit." Anakin said,

"I want him alive," Windu added,

"Commander Windcaster will lead the search," Anakin said, Esinon gave him a look of surprise, he trusted her with this? Well, time to put on her Commander face. She lead the troopers out into the hallway.

"Alright, split into groups of two and search. Contact me if you find anything suspicious," she said,

"Sir, yes, sir," they all replied, she smiled to herself, Commander Blur, she would have to ask Cody about that when she got back, this week Ahsoka was with Obi-Wan, and she was with Anakin. This wasn't something unusual since they all shared the same apartment, lots of times Esinon would train under Anakin for a little while and Ahsoka under Obi-Wan. Esinon took off speeding through the ship, the Endurance was a big ship, with a lot of small spots to cover, even with her speed, this search was going to take her a while. She soon caught up with Anakin and Master Windu,

"How much ground did you cover?" Anakin asked,

"About only half the ship." she said, "Still no sign of the assassin."

"The more ground we cover, the less of the ship there is to hide." Admiral Killian replied, BOOM! An explosion raged behind them, blowing a hole in the ship, the vacuum of space pulling them all towards the void. Master Skywalker managed to grab hold of a part of the ship, he caught Esinon's hand,

"Hang on!'' The three troopers were immediately sucked out, Master Windu used the force to hold Admiral Killian in place. Anakin dragged Esinon up towards him, he placed her hand on the hook he was holding on too. He let go flying towards the blast door control panel, he pressed the button, the four of them fell to the ground. Esinon got to her knees,

"Everyone ok?" Master Windu asked,

"Yes," everyone responded, she stood up, her heart still racing,

"We need to start the evacuation," Admiral Killian said,

"Speedy, round up the troops to the hanger," Anakin said,

"I"m on it," she said, she took off at superspeed, grabbing all the troopers who weren't busy and moving them to the hangar. "Alright everyone! The ship is going down, so prepare to evacuate!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" they all responded, Spinner, came rushing over to his friend beeping worriedly for her safety. Esinon crouched down in front of the droid,

"I'm ok buddy, go and prep the fighters," she said, Spinner beeped in agreement before rolling off, she took off running to the bridge, she joined Master Windu and Skywalker and Admiral Killian,

"The main reactor's beyond hope," Master Skywalker said, "You have to abandon ship."

"No, you must abandon ship, I'm staying." Admiral Killian said, firmly,

"Admiral you must abandon ship," Master Windu said, calmly,

"Not a chance,"

"But sir with respect. That's an order." Master Skywalker said a little more forcefully,

"It may be your command General, but it's my ship." Admiral Killian said,

"We don't have time for that kind of sentiment!" Anakin shot back,

"It's not sentiment, an admiral must go down with his ship. I don't expect you to understand it, Jedi," he said, Anakin rolled his eyes, taking off towards the hanger. Esinon ran climbing up the blue wing of her Jedi fighter, hopping into her seat.

"Get ready to attach the hyperspace ring," she said, Spinner chirped, they flew out of the hanger into the sky away from the smoldering ship. She quickly pulled into her hyperspace ring along with the other ships,

"Admiral, what's your status?" Anakin asked she stared at the ship starting to rush towards the planet.

"We're caught in Vanqor's gravitational pull! We're going to try and set her down on the surface," he said,

"All right, once you're down, we'll get the rescue teams to your location," Anakin said,

"General Skywalker," Crasher came over the comms, "This is Crasher,"

"Yes, Sargent,"

"It's the cadets, sir." Esinon perked up thinking about the young cadets. "I can't raise them on any channel, and their location beacon is not active. Theirs is the only one pod unaccounted for,"

"Sounds like our saboteur may have gotten to the cadets," Master Windu said,

"We have to find that pod," Esinon said, the three Jedi spun their fighters around to go searching from where the pods would have fired. Esinon being impatient pulled ahead of the other ships, she zipped past the other escape pods searching for the force signature of Jax, firm yet kind, and slightly silly. Something about this cadet just seemed significant to her, like he would have some effect on her later in life. She could see something off the distance, a pod! She went even faster pulling up in front of it, the cadets excitedly waving at the young commander, she tried to contact them, but she couldn't get anything, only static.

"Crasher, I found your cadets."

"Nice work Commander, are they alright?" he asked,

"I can't raise them on any com channel, their pod must have been damaged in the crash, but by the way they are waving at me, I think they're fine. Head to point 038 and you can pick them up."

"Right away sir," Crasher said, relieved,

"Skywalker, have you heard from Admiral Killian?" Master Windu asked,

"No, I lost contact with them when they entered the planet's atmosphere."

"Let's round up the rest of the survivors and then we'll get to work." Master Windu replied,

**A few hours later…**

All the survivors had been collected by a rescue ship, the three Jedi fighters beginning to draw closer to Vanqor,

"Let's go, Spinner," she said, the droid chirped detaching the ship from the hyperspace ring and began their descent towards the planet. They flew in along the wreck of the Endurance, the scorched path could be seen from miles away,

"We're coming up on the crash site, let's hope Admiral Killian and the command crew are still in one piece." Master Windu said,

"Looks like the bridge is still intact," Esinon noted, the top of the ship still looking less destroyed than the latter half.

"Land yourselves behind the cruiser, we'll approach on foot." Esinon pulled her ship around landing next to Master Skywalker. She climbed out sitting on the wing of her fighter examining the landscape,

'_This is about the creepiest place I've ever seen since my time in existence.' _Spinner beeped in binary,

"Yeah, you're not kidding, I don't like the feel of this place either."

"You programmed your astromech to feel?" Master Windu asked, eyeing the droid of the tech-savvy padawan.

"Spinner is a special kind of case," the droid shot out of his hold on the ship, Esinon jumped off the wing as well. "He's got a lot of personality, that's all." she rubbed her droid's head,

"You encourage it too much." Master Windu said, the three started walking towards the wrecked ship, "R8 start scanning for signs of life, and calculate an entry point to the cruiser." the golden droid took off to do his master's bidding,

_"None of this looks stable, you're gonna fall and break an arm." _Spinner chirped,

"No I am not," she retorted, Spinner whipped around beeping frantically,

"A bit jittery isn't it?" Master Windu asked,

"He must have seen something," she said, defending her droid, Anakin stared at the droid for a minute probably thinking about R2 who he had sent with Ahsoka for a mission.

"Come on, it looks like R8 found an entry point." Esinon sighed, waving for Spinner to follow,

"There would have been a command crew left aboard to try and land this ship. Admiral Killian and at least three navigational officers." Anakin pointed out,

"Commander Ponds stayed as well." they walked further into the smoldering ship, looking the command crew, Spinner beeped frantically,

"What did you find little guy?" she asked, coming back, a dead trooper lay in front of her, she froze for a second before coming to her senses, "Master Skywalker! Over here!" both Jedi Knights ran over to the scene, Master Windu quickly kneeling down next to the trooper pushing the body over examining it,

"This man did not die in the crash. He was executed, Master Skywalker turned around,

"There's another one over here, same thing." Blaster bolts straight to the chest, someone else was here.

"We know the assassins were after me. Perhaps they returned to look for my body. We need to get to the bridge and find Admiral Killian." Master Windu said, "Send the droids to scan for any survivors down here. Maybe the killer missed one," Esinon knelt down in front of the droids,

"I know there's a lot of interference, but I have complete faith you two can do it. Send an alert to me if you find something," she said, rubbing his head, Spinner beeped excitedly ready to do his best.

"Windcaster!" Master Windu shouted, "Coming," she called, using her speed to catch up with the Knights. They got to a ladder, climbing upward towards the bridge, soon they made it to the top and they crept through the tilted room, dodging sparks that showered from the ceiling. Two more bodies lay in front of them, the same blaster scorches on their chests,

"They're dead, executed like the troopers below." Esinon scanned the room,

"I don't see Admiral Killian or Ponds anywhere," she said,

"They must have been sucked into space when the cabin lost pressure, " Master Windu said, sadly,

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon continued to walk around the cabin while Master Windu and Skywalker contacted the medical frigate. She ran her finger along the scorched buttons of the control panel, something didn't feel right.

"Trust in the force," she heard a voice say, she whipped her head around looking for the source of the sound, she shook her head, it must have just been her imagination. Soon Master Windu and Master Skywalker were busy searching for a safe exit point, she spotted something in the sunlight, a helmet, correction, a Mandalorian helmet. She had read about these things, they were hard to come by since Mandalore had become pacifists leaving their armor and warrior ways in the past.

"What is that doing here?" Neither of the Jedi Knights answered, too enveloped in what they were doing. She cautiously moved towards it, placing her hands on it getting ready to pick it up,

"Esinon no!" Master Windu shouted, it was too late, the young padawan had already picked the helmet up, "Drop it!" he used the force to drag the girl towards him, tackling her off to the side, shielding her in his chest as an explosion raged above them. Everything went dark.

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon blinked her eyes a few times, her body ached all over she looked over to see Master Skywalker on her right, and Master Windu on her left, she could still sense life from them, she heard a low whistle come from above, Spinner,

"Spinner!" she called weakly, the droid stopped looking over the edge to see the young Scipian below, he beeped excitedly flying down to her.

_"You're ok! I'm so glad you're ok! I told you this place wasn't safe. You need to be more careful because Kenobi will dismantle me if you die and that's if your scary friend Gregor doesn't get to me first." _Spinner rambled,

"I'm glad you're ok too." she coughed, he attempted to push some of the debris away to free the Jedi. The whole ship shook and rumbled, "Careful Spinner, I'm afraid the whole bridge might come down upon us." she coughed again, it getting increasingly harder to breathe with the smoke in her lungs and the debris on top of her, "Look, I need you to go back to the fighters and contact the temple for help ok? Okay?" Spinner whimpered slightly not wanting to leave, "Go get help, we'll hold out as long as we can. Move at lightning speed little buddy," she panted, starting to slip back out of consciousness, "Lightning speed."

**A few hours later…**

Master Windu groaned finally waking up, rolling over, he looked over to see Skywalker awake, but Windcaster was still asleep,

"Windcaster, Windcaster!" she finally opened her eyes, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine, I just can't move. Can either of you get free?" she asked, Master Windu, attempted to use the force to move the debris to free himself, the ship shuttered and cracked as he moved the debris,

"I already tried that." Anakin snapped, "You'll bring the whole place down on us."

"Well then how do you plan on getting us out of this mess?" he shot back,

"If you two are done arguing, I already sent Spinner to contact the temple for help. I'm sure he has everything under control," she said confidently,

**Coruscant, the Jedi Temple…**

Spinner came screaming through the temple, knocking over other astromechs as he went, he burst through the doors of the control center, a little too fast, he tumbled over himself crashing down the stairs, attracting the attention of all the Jedi in the room especially Xavier and Ahsoka who immediately recognized the astromech,

"Spinner?" the two padawans asked in unison, walking over to yellow and blue astromech. They both helped push the droid to its feet, Spinner immediately proceeded to run into another R unit, the other droid retaliating rammed Spinner back, the two astromechs trying to shove each other to the ground, Xavier ran over wedging himself between the two droids,

"Stop it! Spinner, what's wrong?" he asked crouching in front of the droid,

"Xavier, you know this droid?" Master Plo asked,

"Yes, it's Esinon's droid, Spinner."

"Well then, Spinner, deliver the message you so obviously need to communicate." Master Plo said, Spinner quickly plugged into the communication pod turning a few dials to get the message playing. Ahsoka and Xavier watched intently as a hologram of Esinon played stuck under tons of debris with an unconscious Anakin and Mace next to her,

"Look, I need you to go back to the fighters and contact the temple for help ok? Okay?" she said weakly,

"Prepare my ship." Master Plo said, "Xavier, get Wolffe and the men ready. Ten troopers. We leave immediately."

**Back on Vanquor…**

Master Windu called the broken Mando helmet into his hands, looking at the half that remained,

"Whose helmet was that anyways?" Esinon asked,

"It belonged to a bounty hunter I killed on Geonosis by the name of Jango Fett." Master Windu explained,

"You mean the clone template?" she asked,

"Yes, strangely enough, he had a son or at least a clone he regarded as a son. His name is Boba Fett,"

"I remember him," Anakin interjected, "Obi-Wan listed him on his report from Kamino."

"Boba was on Geonosis when his father died. He watched as I killed him."

"Ah, that complicates things." Master Skywalker said,

"Indeed," loud explosions roared through the ships, sending more debris toppling over them, "You're astromech has been gone too long! He must have failed to deliver your message!"

"Spinner will come through. He always does," she said, determinedly,

* * *

Xavier hung on tight as the gunship headed down towards the wreck, he spotted Wolffe staring at his new gauntlets that sported the symbol of the wolfpack on them, similar to Master Plo's.

"Nice gauntlet's kid," he said, the young zabrak smiled, they drew close to the wreck,

"There! On the bridge, I see them!" Ahsoka shouted over the roar of the engines,

"Ahsoka, Xavier, hold the ship steady." the three Jedi extended their hands using the force to hold the ship in place while the troopers fired cable guns,

"Sinker, Comet, let's go!" Wolffe shouted, the three troopers jumping over to the crumbling ship.

"Hurry Captain Wolffe." Master Plo said, a slight sense of urgency creeping into his normally calm voice.

"Hang tight Commander," Wolffe said, lifting up the debris far enough for Esinon to wiggle her way out, both Master Skywalker and Master Windu using the force to help the troopers lift the debris. Soon the troopers were helping the three injured Jedi towards the gunship that was tilting further and further down as the bridge crumbled underneath them,

"Jump!" Master Skywalker said they all leaped into the gunship, the rest of the troopers catching them.

"Cut the lines!" Master Plo shouted, Xavier and Ahsoka quickly slashed the cords freeing the gunship, "Go!" As they flew away from the spot where the Jedi had just lay crumpled to the ground, sending the whole starship up in flames. Wolffe passed Esinon to Xavier,

"I hear that Vanqor is very scenic this time of year." he joked,

"I hate you so much," she said tiredly,

"It's also gundark hunting season." he said, "You know what, I'll just send you the brochure." she giggled slightly, gripping her side,

"Don't make me laugh, I think I broke something."

"Don't worry, Twitch'll look you over," he replied,

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon propped herself on her elbows staring up at Xavier,

"Some pretty serious burns and a couple bruised ribs, but you'll be fine. Nothing a night in the bacta tank won't fix," he said, patting her leg. She grimaced shooting him a look,

"Oh, sorry," he muttered,

"We were lucky to have arrived when we did." Master Plo said,

"Guess we have Spinner to thank for that," Ahsoka said,

"Come here droid," Master Windu said, Spinner, wheeled over to him, "I see why your Master trusts you so much. Good job." Spinner beeped excitedly, spinning his head,

"That's more praise than I ever get," Master Skywalker joked, Esinon rolled her eyes,

"Besides that droid kept the Tornado Trio together," Comet added, Wolffe, shot the trooper a look,

"What's the Tornado Trio?" Xavier asked,

"It's nothing, sir," Wolffe stammered, Ahsoka shot him her signature death glare, Wolffe sighed, "Comet, you let it out, you have to explain."

"Well, you three have a lot of energy combined… so troopers just call you the Tornado Trio." he looked like he was expecting the three commanders to be furious, instead, they all looked at each other and burst into laughter,

"Oh my force that's good," Ahsoka giggled, holding onto Xavier's shoulder to keep from keeling over in laughter. All the troopers shared a confused look,

"Why is that true though?" Xavier laughed, Twitch came over,

"That's enough laughing for you and your bruised ribs Commander," he said, pushing her stretcher into the gunship. She waved to Xavier and Ahsoka who were still trying to hold in fits of laughter. Spinner rushed onto the ship after his friend, letting her rest her hand on his head.

"You did so well today little buddy," she whispered,

_"Get some rest, you've earned it. You should have seen how fast I moved though! It's now obvious I'm Commander Blur's astromech." _She laughed quietly to herself,

"I'll have to ask Cody about that."

**A few hours later…**

Esinon didn't like a lot of things, spiders, tomatoes, being dirty, commando droids, Count Dooku, but out of all those things, the thing she hated most was the medbay. She hated the way it smelled, the way the medics swarmed her, the long list of medical terms she didn't understand, and bacta tanks. Bacta tanks were the bane of her existence, the long immersion process, the extremely slimy substance that resided inside of them, the long hours of just floating in nothingness, bacta tanks were the worst, and putting up a fight with Drummer wasn't getting her anywhere.

"Are you sure I have to go in there?" she asked, getting changed behind a curtain,

"Yes, Generals Skywalker and Windu have already gone in. The faster you get through the immersion process, the faster you can get out of the tank." Drummer said, a little bit annoyed,

"Fine," she grumbled, allowing herself to be led to the tank, she climbed in, pulling an oxygen mask over her face, "Here goes nothing." Drummer shot a sedative into her arm, allowing her to fall asleep in the slimy serum.

* * *

A pod race raged in front of her, one by one the pods ripped by. She quickly ran to the ledge of the small tower she was standing in, a smile spreading across her face, pod-racing was her type of recreational activity, she had loved pod-racing before acquiring speed, but now she could watch them in slow motion if she wished and catch the best moves. She looked to the right of her to see two women, a man, and a Gungan.

"Senator Amidala? Representative Binks?" she asked, the two didn't acknowledge her, but the man caught her eye, he had kind blue eyes similar to her master's.

"Come here child," he said, she tentatively walked towards, she could sense the force radiating from him, he must be a Jedi.

"Who are you?" he didn't answer, he simply directed her eyes to a holopad in the woman's hands,

"Be careful Ani," she whispered, Ani, like Anakin? She stared up at the names of the racers on the large holo-board, the boonta eve. This was three years after she was born, she had watched this boonta eve on record many times when she was younger.

"So you do remember." The man said, she looked up at him, he was still smiling with a certain pride in his eyes, almost as if he already knew her and everything she had accomplished up to this point in her life.

"Who are you?" she asked once again,

"In time child, has Obi-Wan taught you nothing?" he asked, she stared at the ground, who was this man, and why could he see her when everyone around her saw her as invisible. She turned her attention back to the pod race, the roar of engines fading as the pods headed down for another lap, she felt relaxed here, and for some reason, she didn't feel wary with this man whoever he was; she just kept watching the pods race past, one after another after another.

**Ooooo, who is this mystery man? Also Spinner is baby. **

**Alrighty, next up on Let's make this canon corner: um... Esinon. let's make Esinon canon. ;) Thank you for coming to my TED talk. **

**Thank you for the continued support! Make sure to leave a review! **


	12. Lethal Trackdown

**The next morning…**

Esinon flipped through a few flashcards on her datapad for a quiz that she had soon. She wasn't exactly paying attention, her mind preoccupied from her dream in the bacta tank. Either it was a vision, or she had been watching too much pod racing and her subconscious was all out of whack. Anakin stood by the window watching the whipping world of Coruscant,

"So what are you planning to do with this son of Jango Fett?" he asked Master Windu who was sitting on a bed across from Esinon's.

"I'm not planning to do anything." Master Windu said.

"That kid destroyed an entire cruiser trying to get to you, and you're just going to let it go?" Anakin asked, frustratedly.

"Is there something I should be doing, Skywalker?" Master Windu asked calmly.

"How about tracking him down?"

"Should I behave as this child does? I should seek revenge?"

"No. How is it revenge if you stop this kid and bring him to justice?"

"This kid has a past you know, and trauma that comes with that. He just doesn't handle it as a Jedi would. He's angry, and he's willing to do anything to find some sort of relief, even bring down a cruiser." Esinon added, Anakin opened his mouth to argue when she cut him off. "I'm not saying that what he did was right, but you have to look at this from all angles."

"Also, in case you hadn't noticed, we are fighting a war." Master Windu said the door opened interrupting their conversation,

"We have a new situation." Master Plo said, walking in with Xavier and Ahsoka. "We received a transmission from the bounty hunters." Anakin shot Windu an 'I told you so' look. He rolled his eyes, getting off the bed to go to the communication pod. Esinon came over as well, "They have apparently taken hostages." Her eyes went wide. Admiral Killian! Ponds! What was going to happen to them? The blinds came down over the windows plunging the room into darkness except for the flickering blue glow of the transmission.

"Mace Windu. You were lucky to escape." Boba stood in front of Ponds, Admiral Killan, and Blood. Aurra Sing hovered over the young clone both of them holding loaded blasters. "Your friends here were not so fortunate." Boba placed his blaster to the back of Ponds' head.

"Until you face Boba, these men will be killed one by one. What's your name?" she asked Ponds. He didn't respond, she kicked him, "Name!"

"CT-411." Ponds growled,

"Pathetic. Do it Boba." Aurra commanded, the young clone placed his blaster to the back of Ponds's head, shaking slightly. Esinon went into flashtime, as she called it. The message was slowing down, he was hesitating. Aurra rolled her eyes, shooting a bolt straight through Ponds's head. She came back to regular speed. Boba hesitated. He couldn't do it.

"That was Ponds," Anakin whispered,

"Only two to go Windu. Come and find us." Aurra taunted, "We'll be waiting."

"I'll go," Master Windu said as light flooded back into the room.

"I thought that you said we weren't going to do anything," Anakin said,

"That was before we knew hostages were involved."

"You are too injured to travel, and your presence would only aggravate the boy." Master Plo pointed out, "I shall take Padawan Grerum with me." Master Windu conceded.

* * *

The wind whipped past Xavier's head as they rode in the speeder through the streets of Coruscant.

"Master Plo, I don't understand," he said, breaking the silence. "Shouldn't we head to the last place Boba Fett was spotted?"

"Why head to the one place we know he's not?" Master Plo replied. The speeder began their descent into the lower levels, and he looked up at the ships passing above.

"Whoa," he mumbled. He had never been to the lower levels. As a youngling, he was mostly confined to the temple while on Coruscant.

"The second bounty hunter in the hologram was Aurra Sing."

"Another bounty hunter?" Xavier asked. "Just like his father, Jango Fett."

"Yes, it seems this boy found himself in the care of at least one of Jango's associates."

"So we're looking for Jango Fett's friends or places they'd hang out," the young padawan said, catching up.

"And to do that, we must go to the lower levels." Master Plo replied. "The underworld." After what seemed like an eternity of descent, Master Plo docked their speeder, and the pair of Jedi hopped out. Master Plo pulled a hood over his head, and Xavier followed suit.

"Move along, move along, move along," the female voice over the PA continued to repeat. They walked to a reception area where people filed through lines getting clearance to enter the streets that lay on the other side.

"Your pass please," the droid asked in a feminine voice as he and Master Plo walked up. The older Jedi waved a hand in front of the lock. It opened for the two Jedi to enter. The droid paid them no mind.

"The data on Jango Fett suggests that he was frequently in this area. We must be cautious." That was the Master Plo way of saying, 'Don't run off, Xavier' and 'Don't do something stupid' since he had a tendency to get a little carried away sometimes. Soon they made it to a small transport which they boarded to head towards the nearest bar.

**A few hours later…**

"Maybe we'll have better luck here," Xavier said hopefully. To be honest, he was getting tired. All of this wandering around bars looking for information was starting to get a little boring. "This is the fifth bar we've been to."

"Yes. This time, try and be more subtle." Master Plo said,

"What do you mean?" he asked,

"You don't always think before rushing into things, a quality you seem to share with Wolffe," he replied walking towards the door of the bar.

"Sorry Master," Xavier mumbled, ashamed, knowing he was right. How he had gotten paired with the calm and conservative Master Plo, was beyond him, but he was glad he did.

"Just try to blend in. Listen. You'll be surprised at the things people will reveal when they've been… drinking." He nodded as they entered the bar. Flashing lights swarmed the area, music pounded in their ears, and choruses of laughter filled his ears as people danced, sang, and drank. "Go have a look around." He nodded, walking off. After a few minutes of aimlessly wandering the bar, he had gotten nowhere. He could barely think in this chaotic bar. He balled his hand frustratedly,

"I'm not getting anywhere," he grumbled. He took a deep breath remembering Master Plo's words. "Just try to relax. Listen." He used the force to concentrate on certain conversations happening in the room.

"This war is killing me. My whole business has gone under." He shifted his focus elsewhere.

"I saw her last night on the video screen," Still not what he was looking for.

"Florrum? A buddy of mine was just murdered on Florrum." His eyes whipped open.

"Murdered?" He quickly made his way over to the spot where he had heard the conversation. He kept his back turned, listening in on what they were saying. "At least that's what he said. He was telling me he had some valuable information on a holo transmitter, and then boom! She shot him. It must have been some good dirt." the nautolan chuckled.

"What's her name?" The weequay asked. "Hope it's not who I think it is."

"He was working with Aurra Sing. She's bad news."

"Ah, that's her alright. She's the boss's ex." Xavier scooted a little closer. "There's always trouble when she shows up."

"Yeah, that's the one." Without a beat, the nautolan jumped out of his seat and grabbed Xavier in a chokehold,

"Find something interesting kid?" the weequay asked threateningly. Xavier stabbed his elbow into the nautolian's side, the arms releasing from around his neck. He reached under his poncho for his lightsaber. The nautolan brandished two knives, and the weequay held a blaster.

"What are you reaching for?" Every blaster in the room fell upon the young zabrak. He looked around, unsure of what to do, and then he heard the woosh of a lightsaber igniting. He turned to see his Master coming to his aid.

"Stand down," he commanded.

"You can't take us all, Jedi!" the nautolan replied, swinging the knives wildly. Xavier backed up to his Master igniting his green blade.

"Would you like to test that theory?" Master Plo asked as the two Jedi backed towards the door.

"Hey! No one's shooting up my place today!" the bartender shouted.

"He's right," Xavier replied, fishing out a handful of credits from his belt. "Drinks on the house." He threw them into the crowd, immediately de-escalating the situation as they exited.

"Not very subtle." Master Plo said, walking back towards the transport.

"I was being subtle, but crazies pulled a knife on me," Xavier argued. "Wait, I heard about a murder. A murder that Aurra Sing recently committed."

"Where?"

"Florrum," he replied.

"Excellent work Xavier," Master Plo said proudly the young padawan grinned up at his Master. "We're off to Florrum."

**Florrum…**

The catwalk lowered, letting the two Jedi out. A weequay in a red coat came to meet them. Xavier recognized him as Hondo. Esinon had told him about this weequay who tried to sell her off for ransom. Xavier immediately felt hostile towards the weequay for hurting Esinon.

"Hello, hello, and welcome to Florrum." he greeted.

"I should assume you are walking us into a trap?" Master Plo asked. He put a hand out in front of Xavier, sensing his padawan's anger towards the man.

"Yes, you should. They're waiting in the bar," Hondo replied. "I have no idea what she has planned for you."

"And why are you telling us this?" Plo asked.

"So you know that I'm not involved in this," Hondo said, noticing the glare on Xavier's face.

"Remember patience," Master Plo said as they walked towards the base.

**A few minutes later…**

Xavier kept his back plastered to the wall as Master Plo walked towards Aurra. She sat at a table alone.

"Bad move Jedi," she growled, slamming her cup down. "This will cost you."

"I wanted Windu. What are you doing here?" Boba asked, placing a blaster at the back of Plo's head.

"We can do this the simple way or the difficult way. The choice is yours," Plo said calmly,

"Bossk, can you hear?" Aurra asked sweetly. "Be ready to execute the hostages if I give the word."

"Unwise," Master Plo said. "You have already lost and you don't even know it."

"I am prepared to kill you and the hostages, whatever it takes to get Boba what he wants," she snarled.

"Sounds more like what you want," Master Plo replied. Xavier called his saber into his hand, and he leaped out slicing the antenna on Aurra's head. He held his lightsaber to her throat. Boba pressed the blaster harder against his Plo's head threateningly.

"Don't," Xavier growled. The young padawan held the saber closer to Aurra's neck.

"Let her go," Boba commanded.

"No chance," Xavier replied. The two boys locked in a stare-off with each of their mentors in the clutches of the other.

"He won't do it, Boba." Aurra said. "He's not like you."

"She's right. I'm not a murderer," Xavier said.

"I'm not a murderer. I just want justice."

"Tell that to all the people who died in the Endurance crash," Xavier snapped.

"Don't listen to him," Aurra instructed.

"No one will be harmed if you come quietly," Master Plo said calmly. Aurra shook her head.

"I can't let you die," Boba whispered.

"You won't have to," she replied. The boy glanced downward nodding in understanding.

"Aurra!" Boba shouted, firing a shot at Xavier. He quickly deflected it, releasing Aurra. Master Plo slammed his fists down and flipped the table up. He pushed Boba out of the way. Aurra whipped out two blasters firing at the young padawan. Xavier quickly worked on deflecting them all, struggling to keep up. Master Plo used the force to lift the table up putting it in between his padawan and Aurra. She continued to fire, quickly smashing the table to smithereens, but Master Plo acted swiftly, slicing the blaster in her hand in half and put the saber to her neck.

"It's over. Surrender."

"Aurra! Now!" Boba yelled, sliding a beeping disk between his mentor and the Jedi.

"Bomb!" Xavier dove out of the way, narrowly missing the explosion. Plo scrambled to his feet as Aurra began running out with Boba close on her tail. He quickly used the force to catch the boy.

"Aurra! Help! Help me!" Boba shouted, trying to wriggle free of Plo's grasp. Aurra paused, but she saw Xavier getting up to chase after her. She sprinted out of the bar, Xavier close behind. He sprinted out seeing the bounty hunter escaping on a speeder. He jumped on his own, following suit. The landscape of the base enclosed into a canyon with Xavier riding bumper to bumper with Aurra. He ignited his lightsaber, pulling up the side of the cliff. He flipped over to the side of Aurra's speeder in an attempt to slash her speeder. He missed, and the bounty hunter rammed his speeder making him fall behind. He revved his engines trying to catch back up.

"Xavier!" his comlink called. "She's trying to lead you away from the hostages. Go to coordinates 1579," Master Plo instructed.

"On my way," he replied. He turned his speeder hard and flew down a seperate lane of the canyon. He pushed his engines harder and harder. He needed to get there. He came speeding out of the canyon and spotted Bossk and the hostages. He fired the blasters at the transdoshan leaping off of the speeder. As Bossk dove out of the way, he quickly slashed through the bindings of Admiral Killian and Blood. Admiral Killian grabbed the lizard's blaster.

"Don't move." An engine roared as Aurra came flying over a cliff on her speeder and crashed into Xavier's speeder, causing an explosion that threw them all back. He quickly pushed himself to his feet. He ran after the ship as it took off into the air and leaped up onto the wing of the ship. Aurra jolted the ship, throwing Xavier towards the ground, but he caught on to the rung of the ship holding on with one hand. The young Jedi swung back and forth, gaining enough momentum to flip back up onto the wing of the ship. He slashed his saber through the rod holding the wing in place, and he quickly jumped up and started running towards the other wing as the ship tilted. The ship jolted, causing him to slide down on the glass of the ship in front of the bounty hunter. He stabbed his saber downward into the glass, and Aurra pulled out a blaster firing at the padawan. He quickly deflected the bolts, the glass cracking underneath his feet. Aurra won this round. He did a backflip off of the ship landing on the ground in front of Blood and Admiral Killian. The ship started to spin and shake, flying out of control. It crashed and exploded a few klicks away. Xavier bowed his head, giving a moment of silence for the bounty hunter. She may have killed people, but that didn't mean that she didn't deserve respect.

**Later that day…**

With Boba captured, life was starting to settle back in. Esinon, Anakin, and Mace had made a full recovery, and Xavier was enjoying some much-needed rest from battle. Meanwhile, Esinon wasn't exactly resting...

* * *

"That's cheating!" Ahsoka shouted as Esinon used her speed to dribble the ball quickly between her feet. Barriss sat under the tree scrolling through assignments on her datapad. She glanced up every once in a while at the yelling padawans dashing around the field. Esinon's comlink buzzed.

"Hello?" she asked while still running down the field. She half expected it to be her Master lecturing her about how she needed to finish her studies before she played.

"Commander Windcaster, this is Fox," a trooper replied on the other end.

"Xavier!" she shouted, passing the ball. "Yeah?"

"Uh… is this a bad time sir?" Fox asked confused about all the shouting at the end of the comlink.

"No, I'm just a little preoccupied," Esinon replied, trying to get the ball away from Ahsoka. She took off her comlink and tossed it to Barriss. "Catch!" The mirialan caught the comlink.

"This is Barriss Offee. Can I take a message?" she asked, becoming the designated 'mom friend' of the group.

"We have a prisoner request for Commander Windcaster," Fox replied.

"From who?" Barriss asked, slightly confused.

"Boba Fett sir, we ask that Commander Windcaster come to the Republic prison at her nearest convenience."

"I'll tell her. Thank you, Fox," Barriss said, ending the transmission. "Esinon! You need to go to the prison." All of the padawans stopped.

"What?"

"Boba's asked to see you, and Fox asked you to head over," she said before turning back to her tablet.

"I guess we'll have to finish this later," Esinon said, passing the ball over to Xavier. The three of them waved before Ahsoka and Xavier went back to playing keep away. Esinon used her speed to zip off to the Republic prison where she turned in her lightsabers and comlink. She was escorted onto a pod, and they rode out past the rows and rows of cells. The pod suddenly halted in front of a cell. Commander Fox motioned that it was alright for her to enter. The ray shield came down. Boba sat on the small cot in the stark cell. He jumped to his feet. Esinon could sense his slight excitement mixed with a cargo load of nervousness. "Hello," she greeted.

"Hi, I- uh," he stammered.

"You wanted to talk to me?" she asked. Esinon tried to send a little bit of the force to the frazzled boy.

"Yes, I just wanted to… say sorry. I really didn't want to bring the whole cruiser down, but Aurra convinced me I needed to. I guess I got a preconceived notion from Windu that all Jedi were bad. You're not. You were actually the only one who was really nice to me on that ship, other than Jax." he rambled, "I'm really sorry." he mumbled, focusing on his feet. Esinon put a hand on his shoulder.

"I know Boba, sometimes when we get angry," she paused, "we do things that shouldn't represent who we are. You've got a lot of pent-up anger. I know what that's like. I used to too. I still do, but you have to learn to let go." she said. Boba gave a slight nod. "I'll come and visit every once in a while when I can." The boy smiled slightly as she exited. As Fox returned her lightsaber and comlink, she looked up at Fox. "Keep an eye on him for me."

"Of course sir," the clone replied. She gave him a nod of thanks before leaving.

**Ok, it's decided. We need more Xavier in this story, so if you like him, you'll be seeing more of him. We're gonna get a little bit more into his past. Also, Boba Fett was really sweet, before he got all mean, angry, and bounty hunter-y. **

**Ok, next up on let's make this canon corner: Cody is all business on the battlefield, but he is a serious goofball off of it especially when it comes to teasing Rex. He takes great pride in this work, much to Rex's dismay. He loosens up more when Esinon shows up and turns everything upside down. Such as when Esinon added mass games of hide-and-seek for training to help the scouts, and the endless pranks she and Waxer pull made it so Cody tries to get them back everyone once and a while.**

**Hey, hey, hey, so now that I've officially introduced the tornado trio, I was wondering if you guys would like a spin-off series that centers around them where I would take requests as well. Some of the stories would be angsty but others would be cute and fluffy. So if that's something you guys want, please tell me in the reviews so I can get started! **

**Thank you for reading, and make sure to leave a review! **


	13. Assassin

**A few weeks later…**

Conspiracy! The Princess of Miral has successfully warded off the Republic occupation on her home planet. Now the princess is scheduled for departure, but the chancellor has ordered a Jedi protectorate. Meanwhile, Senator Clovis is suspected of conspiring with the Separatists, Padme Amidala is sent to spy on the Senator from Scipio,

* * *

"Read and 'em and weep boys," she said, throwing down her sabacc cards, taking another victory. She, Fives, and Echo sat outside of the clone barracks, resting after the long days of battle.

"Oh come on," Fives grumbled, tossing his own cards down.

"I'm just that good,"

"I swear you can just read our minds." Echo said,

"No, you just have absolutely no poker face," she said, starting to gather the cards back up and shuffle them. Her comlink buzzed her little alert for the Senate meeting. "Shoot, I gotta go, Senate meeting."

"Who are you and what have you done with Taz?" Fives joked, the two ARC troopers had affectionately nicknamed her 'Taz' short for Tasmanian devil for her nervous energy.

"Hardy har, this meeting's important. Scipio is looking at going neutral and that's a big deal for me."

"Have fun," Echo said kindly,

"I will, fill you guys in when I get back." She sped off to the Senate building, she smoothed her hair and robes as she entered the room, where Senators chatted waiting for the Chancellor and the meeting to start. Senator Clovis caught her eye waving to her slightly, she wasn't allowed down in the pods, but Jedi presence at a Senate meeting was a given by now. Soon everyone got settled, the Chancellor emerging,

"Thank you, everyone, for coming, now let the meeting begin." the Chancellor announced.

**A few hours later…**

Esinon walked with Senator Clovis down the hallway, him attempting to explain some of the politics to the thirteen-year-old. They were swiftly interrupted by Master Windu,

"Senator Clovis, I'm sorry to disturb you," he said,

"Quite alright, I was just giving Esinon an abbreviated version of our usual lesson," he said, Esinon gave him a confused look, she thought they would be on their way to her normal lesson now. "I forgot to tell you that I can't do our lesson today, I'm meeting Senator Amidala for dinner."

"You and Senator Amidala are friends?" she asked, confused by the new information.

"Well, we haven't talked in a while and I'm hoping to rekindle our old relationship." Esinon's brow went into her signature crinkle when she was deep in thought. Anakin was not going to like this whole Senator and Senator dinner, he always had a sweet spot for Padme.

"Esinon, we have a new assignment for you." She gave a bow of respect to Senator Clovis before joining Master Windu, "As you know the Princess of Miral is here."

"Yes,"

"We're assigning you to be her personal bodyguard while she travels back to Miral. As well as the flight crew, which will be Coruscant guard, you can select four troopers to accompany you." He explained,

"I'm honored that you chose me, if I may request, I would like Cody, Gregor, Waxer, and Boil to accompany me," she said, politely,

"Of course, I'll have them meet you on the ship." Master Windu said, they stopped in front of the mirialan princess, she had beautiful lavender skin, with a bright orange dress and black diamonds dotting her face. She had blond hair, tucked into two space buns at the top of her head, with the rest of her hair resting on her shoulders, and tall white boots on her feet. "This is Princess Macy,"

"Princess," Esinon bowed, the four bodyguards around her,

"Master Jedi," the Princess returned the gesture,

"Princess Macy, this is Esinon Windcaster, she will be accompanying you back to Miral to ensure your safety." Master Windu explained,

"I'm grateful Master Jedi," she replied,

"I'm going to prepare the ship for departure," Master Windu said, ducking away, they walked down the hallway for a little bit making some awkward small talk, before she spotted Anakin waving frantically at her, she shook her head, he gave her the 'no more arguing' look, she sighed,

"If you'll excuse me for a moment, my apologies," Esinon said, walking over to Anakin, "What? I'm kinda on assignment,"

"Well we might have to cancel that order," he held out a comlink, a distorted voice emitted from the crackling com,

"Esinon Windcaster, you've messed with me one too many times. So it's time to subtract you from the equation. I'm coming for you." the message cut out, Esinon looked back up at Master Skywalker,

"Uh, I'm kinda lost…"

"It's a death threat!" Anakin whisper yelled,

"Ok, so…" Anakin sighed,

"That means, there's no way you're going on this mission," he said,

"Does Master Windu know?"

"Yes, and I'm frustrated because he's the one who assigned you to this," he grumbled,

"It'll be fine," Esinon said, "Gregor is scary enough to get rid of whatever is trying to get me."

"Well I would feel much more comfortable if Rex went with you," he said,

"Don't you have a mission or something?" she asked, "I think you'll need your captain for that."

"Kriff, you're right. I'll send Fives and Echo instead." Esinon wasn't totally opposed to the idea since she was close with them, but one death threat from an unknown source, sending two ARCs seemed a little much. She opened up her mouth to argue, but it was obvious Master Skywalker could already tell she was going to try and discourage him from doing so. "I'm sending Fives and Echo with you and that's final." she glared at him for a minute before conceding,

"Fine, tell them to meet up at hangar seven," she said, walking back to towards the Princess,

"Stay safe Speedy!" he called after her,

"I will," she replied, giving a slightly annoyed wave as she the Princess, and the bodyguards walked to hangar seven.

**A few minutes later…**

"Has Master Windu filled all of you in on the situation?" she asked the troopers gathered on the bridge,

"Yes sir, we are aware of the death threat," Cody answered,

"I'm assuming that's why General Skywalker sent us?" Fives asked,

"Yes, he's just a little worried, but I'm sure everything will be fine. Now, this is my first mission alone, and I would really like it to go well. All of you were picked by me, because I trust all of you. Now while I remain in command, I've modified Spinner for situations like this." the astromech beeped happily, "Spinner vigilant mode." the droid's green light flashed to yellow. "Vigilant mode is where Spinner is watching and will send an immediate alert to me if something is wrong. Spinner attack mode." the droid's light flashed to red, a bunch of electrical probes emerging from the droid's body. "Now Spinner will react to these commands from any of you, but no one else. When you want him to deactivate either simply say Spinner stationary. Everyone understand?"

"Yes sir," all the troopers responded,

"Awesome, dismissed."

**A few hours later…**

Even though she was acting like the death threat didn't bother her in the slightest, it terrified her to be honest. Someone was out there, hunting her, and she had no idea who. She couldn't keep her focus on the mission at hand with the pounding thought of, 'when is it going to happen?' She knew she had every right to be fearful, but she was a Jedi, confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi.

There wasn't anything she could do to change that, but she could also sense Cody's worry. He believed in protecting his Jedi above anything, and would often get into arguments with Master Kenobi about things that he considered 'reckless' and that he got assigned with 'the most stubborn Jedi in the galaxy' and that 'keeping track of a speedster was the hardest thing he ever had to do.'

Cody more than anything didn't want to let the Jedi down, which meant keeping them alive at all costs, and his commander having a death threat hovering above her head wasn't sitting well with him.

Esinon simply stared out the window of the front of the ship as the blue and white world of hyperspace zipped by, having Cody's stress piled on top of her own was making it increasingly harder for her to focus, and giving an increasingly bigger headache. She decided to make a visit to the medbay to get some Tylenol to try and ease the pounding in her head, as she rummaged through the bottles in the cabinet she could hear footsteps approaching, closer, closer, she couldn't sense anything from whoever was coming, her hand instinctively called to her lightsaber she kept her back turned until the footsteps were right on top of her, she whipped around placing the blue saber to their neck. She looked up to see only Gregor standing with his hands up at the wrong end of a lightsaber, she immediately put her saber away,

"I-I'm sorry, I thought you were…"

"An assassin?" he asked, she nodded her head slightly, "Don't feel bad, I've had a brother shove a blaster to my head thinking I was the enemy." she stared at the stoic soldier for a moment, he sighed, "There's still a lot you don't know about war." she stood there for a minute, getting lost in her thoughts once again. "Commander, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just… distracted." she replied,

"I have an idea, come with me." she followed Gregor down the halls of the ship to a training room, "When I'm distracted, it helps if I hit something. I have a feeling it might work for you too." the clone pulled a punching bag from the closet hanging it up, he tossed Esinon a pair of gloves. "Have at it," she punched the bag lighter than she normally would, she didn't want to hurt Gregor. "I know you can do better than that." she wound up, hitting the bag hard. "That a girl, again."

**A few hours later…**

Cody walked down the halls of the shuttle, giving a nod to the bodyguards who had still not moved from in front of the princess's door. He patted Spinner on the head as he passed, the astromech giving a friendly chirp. As he got closer to the training room, he could hear grunts, and muffled noises of encouragement, probably Waxer and Boil getting in their necessary training requirements for the day, either way he got curious and decided to peek his head in. He pushed the door open slightly, to see the Commander and Gregor climbing a pair of ropes hanging from the ceiling, Esinon moved at lightning speed quickly hoisting herself to the top, touching the ceiling and flipping off, landing in a crouch,

"Showoff!" Gregor called from his rope, sliding back down. Cody noticed the big smile on the normally straight-faced soldier, as Esinon ran at him throwing mock punches. He picked her up, throwing her over this shoulder, proceeding the lumber around the training room while Esinon's infectious giggles flooded the room. A smile spread to Cody's face, Gregor had lost all of his batchmates on his first mission, and that's when he became stoic and sad, rarely ever smiling. The big silly grin that Gregor was sporting at the moment was one people almost never saw anymore, Cody had watched as Esinon and Gregor had grown closer and closer, they were as close as batchmates at this point. Cody was ripped from his thoughts when the ship shook and rattled, taking a quick dive to the right. Both Esinon and Gregor fell to their feet, both of them hurrying out of the training room to investigate.

"Cody, do you know what's going on?" she asked, as the ship rocked again,

"No idea sir, but I'm about to find out," he said, as all three of them took off towards the bridge.

"Sir, our ship seems to be damaged," Key informed them upon their arrival on the bridge, the first thought that crossed Esinon's mind was, sabotage? She shook that thought from her head, she needed to focus on protecting the princess, that was her mission. She ran over to the holomaps, searching for a nearby planet in this sector, she landed upon Ithor, which wasn't far off.

"Alright, Key, head for Ithor, we can regroup there. I'm going to inform the princess." Esinon said, giving a quick nod to the troopers before walking off. She made it to the Princess's room, the guards parted as the blast doors opened, "I'm sorry to disturb your rest Princess, but we are making a stop on Ithor because our ship is damaged." she nodded, as Esinon made her way back to the cockpit, Ithor coming into view.

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon tugged a poncho over her head, covering up her lightsaber and Jedi robes,

"Are you sure you don't want anyone to come?" Cody asked,

"Clone troopers draw attention, sorry, but I'll have one of the princess's guards with me, Cato. I'll get the parts and be back within the hour," she replied, putting a hand on Cody's shoulder trying to calm her Captain. She and the green-skinned mirialan guard walked off the damaged ship heading towards the nearest village.

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon and Cato had split up in search of the parts they needed for their ship. It looked like the hyperdrive was leaking, hence the abrupt fall out of hyperspace, and the plasma conduit was out of commission. It wasn't a difficult fix, but the parts were rather expensive, which is why Esinon was currently in a heated debate with a salesman trying to argue the outrageous price down. Soon she got to a price that was agreeable and she didn't think that she was going to get it any lower, she handed over her credits taking the parts. She decided it was probably about time to head back towards the ship, to make a speedy repair and get the princess back home safely.

The sooner the princess was home, she could start focusing on finding this assassin. She could sense something, she shook her head, it must be nothing, just paranoia from this threat because last time she thought she sensed an assassin she almost killed Gregor. She kept her hands locked around the bag of parts she was carrying, her knuckles turned white, fighting the temptation to reach for her lightsaber, POW! A red shot flew out from behind some building, nailing her right in the back, the world went black.

* * *

Cato's ears perked up when he heard the echoing crack of blaster fire, and it was coming from the direction of the ship. He took off running, the princess could be in danger and he would have failed. Soon he skidded to a halt, seeing the still form of the Jedi commander on the ground a few feet away from the ship. He rushed over a blaster scorch on her back, he quickly took a pulse, she was alive, but it was probably only a narrow miss. He looked around warily trying to figure out if the assassin was still around. A few clones came rushing out, two in orange, and two in blue,

"Commander!"

"It's alright, she's still alive, we have to get her back on the ship," Cato said, calmly, the clones nodded as they let Cato on before them as they walked to the medbay. Spark took over from there, kicking everyone else out of the medbay. Cato watched as about six clones gathered outside the medbay, some of them were hiding their anxiety some better than others. Their loyalty to their commander was incredible, the respect they had for her must be well-founded.

* * *

Cody was getting impatient, was Spark gonna tell them what was going on or not? It was taking all of his willpower to not pace the floor until there wasn't a floor left. If that Jedi had gotten herself killed- nope not gonna think about it. The Commander would be fine, the blast door opened ripping him from his thoughts. Spark stepped out the medbay door closing behind him.

"She is going to be fine, it was a close call though," he said,

"Is she awake?" Fives asked anxiously, taking the words right from Cody's mouth.

"Yes, but the Commander is a little disoriented from all the painkillers," Spark said, they all nodded before the medic let them inside.

* * *

Everything was kinda fuzzy, and her right arm was completely numb, plastered to her chest in a sling, it hurt slightly to breathe, had she been shot? Was this what it felt like? This wasn't so bad, but then again she did pass out. She wasn't exactly sure of all the details, because she was pretty sure she was on some strong painkillers, that's probably why nothing hurt that bad. The blast door opened, with about six troopers entering,

"How do you feel sir?" Cody asked,

"Nothing hurts too bad, honestly I don't remember most of it." She said still keeping her signature cheery smile plastered on her face.

"Are you sure?" Fives asked, shooting her a, 'don't lie to me' look. She nodded her head since she hated the medbay, often she would just ignore injuries, and it had gotten her in trouble with Drummer a lot of times, namely the medic giving all of the 212th a sedative and the promise of extra food to anyone who sedated the elusive speedster.

"Is the princess safe?" she asked,

"Only you would get shot and be worried about someone else," Gregor remarked, Esinon rolled her eyes, still waiting for an answer. "Yes, she's fine."

"No time to sit around, I'll get started on those repairs," she said, pushing herself upward, she paused exhaling slowly, as a dizzy spell overcame her,

"Slow down, we'll fix the ship. You focus on resting." Echo said, easing her back onto the bed. She sighed tiredly,

"Fine, but as soon I'm better again I'm getting out of this medbay," she grumbled, snuggling under the blankets.

"Yes sir," they all replied,

**A few hours later…**

"And the Commander is back!" Fives proclaimed in a sing-song voice, with Esinon sitting on his shoulders, a goofy grin plastered on both their faces, as they rejoined everyone outside, while Gregor was busy on the underbelly of the ship.

"And I think I know who's trying to kill me," she said, mimicking Fives, which elicited a glare from Gregor. "So I meditated some, and did some recollection on my most recent missions, and narrowed it down to a few people who probably want me dead."

"Not counting all those battle droids?" Waxer joked, Boil rolled his eyes, a small smile creeping onto his face.

"Not counting all those battle droids." she said, "When my Master and I were attempting to escape Hondo's clutches, there was a weequay there who was trying to take the spice for himself, I kinda ruined his little escapade, so he might want revenge. Speaking of Hondo, I also ruined his mission of taking sillum from these farmers on Felucia. He might also want me dead, not really sure because he keeps saying I'm his friend. Then there's Aurra Sing, she recently escaped Republic custody, and according to Boba, she tried to break him out as well. She wasn't exactly happy when he said no, and I'm the reason behind that. She could want me dead for reforming her star pupil."

"How do we figure out who it is?" Boil asked, three people was still a lot in a large galaxy.

"We use me as bait. As soon as we drop the princess off."

"Ok, I don't like that plan. You've already been shot once, and that's one time too many." Cody said,

"Oh come on! It's the only plan we've got." Esinon said, resting her head on top of Fives,

"I agree with the Captain, we'll come up with something else," Gregor interjected from the underbelly of the ship. She began grumbling something in Ewok under her breath, annoyedly,

"Besides we need to focus on the mission at hand. You don't want to upset General Windu do you?" Esinon cringed slightly at Cody hitting her soft spot since Master Windu had found her and brought her to the temple, she always held a little spot in her heart for him.

"No," she mumbled,

"Well that settles it, we're gonna fix the ship, drop the princess off and head back to the safety of Coruscant." Cody said,

**A few hours later…**

This ship was fixed, and they were drawing closer and closer to Miral with every passing minute. Esinon was currently sitting cross-legged in front of the princess's door, with Spinner on the other side of her. Despite Cody discouraging her from going assassin hunting, she was going anyway, she felt much better being the hunter rather than the hunted. She was currently swiping through her notes on each candidate, her arm still plastered to her chest. She heard the blast behind her whoosh open, she turned her head to see the princess looking up and down the hallway,

"Are they gone?" she asked,

"Is who gone?" Esinon asked, confusedly, looking around for whoever the princess was looking for,

"My guards?"

"Yeah, I sent them to lunch," the princess stepped out of her room, and plopped down next to her,

"What are you working on?" she asked, Esinon quickly shut the notes out, leaving the schematics of the modifications for Spinner,

"Uh it's nothing," she said, "Just some stuff for my friend." she motioned to the astromech in front of her. Spinner beeped happily, his head whipping in circles,

"The droid… is your friend?" she asked, confusedly,

"Yeah, he keeps me company, and is much more fun than any droids I have to fight out there," she said, jabbing her thumb towards the galaxy that was just outside their ship.

"How do you trust them, after fighting so many battle droids out there?" the princess asked, placing her hand on Spinner,

"I dunno, I guess I try not to think about it."

"It must be difficult Master Jedi,"

"You don't have to call me that, I'm just a learner, Esinon's fine," she said,

"Then you can call me Macy, we are the same age after all." the princess replied, with a large smile on her face. "I also came out to say, I'm sorry you got shot."

"It's alright, Spark patched me up real good," she said, showing the princess the sling. It didn't take long for the two girls to get to talking about anything and everything, from the war to politics, to the clones on board, and how terrible the rations on the ship tasted. The ship pulled up to Miral, and the Jedi and Princess had to bid each other farewell, not before giving each other their personal com channels to stay in contact, and as much as Cody would have liked to have ended the mission there, and cart the young Jedi back to Coruscant and the safety of the temple as fast as physically possible, she had other plans. Specifically drawing the assassin out.

**On the Negotiator…**

Obi-Wan was currently scrolling through different mission reports, scanning for the one concerning his padawan. Here it is, he began scrolling down the list,

_Mission Status- complete, Enroute: Coruscant. _

_Additional notes: Padawan Windcaster sustained minor blaster burns from an unknown source. _Obi-Wan grunted, almost choking on his tea,

"She got shot?" he exclaimed,

"Who got shot?" Drummer asked, pulling the pad from his General's hands, he skimmed the report until he found a part he deemed interesting enough to read,

"Padawan Windcaster was sent to Miral to protect Princess Macy, by order of the chancellor,"

"That's our Commander," Oddball said, walking in on the conversation,

"During the mission, Padawan Windcaster sustained minor blaster burns from an unknown source, blah, blah, blah," Drummer muttered, "Hang on, it says something about a theory, injury possibly sustain from mystery assassin who has made threats against the padawan's life?!"

"Someone made a death threat to Commander Windcaster?" Oddball asked, snatching the datapad from Drummer's hands. Obi-Wan grabbed it from Oddball's hands,

"Give me that, she's my padawan." he snapped, stuffing his nose into the information, anxiously, Oddball and Drummer both peered over his shoulder,

"What's all the commotion about?" Alpha asked, seeing the scuffle for the datapad, now in his General's hands. No one answered him, "What's going on?"

"The Commander was shot." Oddball murmured,

"By who?" Alpha asked, snatching the pad,

"We don't know," Obi-Wan said, stealing the pad back, a look of terror crossed her face, "She wouldn't… she would." he murmured, rubbing his beard, "If you'll excuse me, I need to call Cody before my padawan gets herself killed." leaving the sought after datapad behind.

**Back on Coruscant…**

"BE CAREFUL!" Cody screamed, as Esinon shot the speeder downward after her unknown assassin, or maybe an informant, she didn't know, but she was almost shot, again, upon exiting the ship. She had immediately stolen a nearby speeder, chasing whoever shot her, but Cody had gotten dragged along, well… he more yelled her name before jumping on the speeder with her, so this was his own fault.

"Hang on!" she shouted, jerking the speeder hard to the left, she revved the engine drawing closer to the speeder and the mask assassin, "Drive," he obeyed grabbing the controls, as she rose out of her seat, leaping onto the speeder in front of her, she tackled the assassin, struggling for control of the speeder,

"Let go!" the assassin yelled,

"You let go first!" Esinon shot back, landing a kick to the masked individual's face, she spotted a landing platform up ahead, she swerved the vehicle towards it, but her vision was quickly obscured by the assassin slapping a hand over the young Jedi's eyes, Esinon used the force to sense when the platform was underneath them, pulling the masked figure with her, they both tumbled over each other, splitting up, Esinon scrambled to her feet calling her lightsaber, placing it to the neck of the figure who was attempting to escape. "Hold it right there," Cody pulled up on the speeder, aiming his blaster at the figure.

"Mask off. Now," he commanded, the stranger raised their hands slowly, pulling off the mask in defeat, they were in no place to argue with a lightsaber in their face, as well as a blaster. A transdoshan's face appeared,

"Bossk." Esinon growled, "Let me guess, Aurra hired you."

"I'm not talking." he hissed, loud sirens came wailing around the corner, the Coruscant guard pulling up,

"I guess you don't have to talk, but it's over," Cody said, as the guard quickly handcuffed the transdoshan pushing him onto the waiting transport. Esinon heaved a sigh, placing her saber back on her belt,

"We've got to figure out who hired Bossk, before whoever did comes after me again." Cody noticed how exhausted she was getting,

"Sir, are you ok?" he asked, she rubbed her hand gently over where the bandages lay under her tunic.

"I've had worse," she said,

"I'm not asking if you've had worse, I'm asking if right now you're ok," he said, she stared at her feet,

"I'm scared," she whispered, "I don't want to die." Cody placed his hands on her shoulders,

"You're not gonna die, we'll get you back to the temple where it's safe. We're gonna catch this assassin, I promise." she nodded, in a flash her tiny arms were around his waist, holding on tight to him in a hug. He stood there for a second, before putting his arms around his young commander, sometimes he forgot she was only thirteen, well almost fourteen now. She let go as quickly as she had latched on,

"Thanks, Cody."

"Anytime sir."

**Back on the Negotiator…**

"Blast. Why won't he answer?" Obi-Wan asked, frustratedly as Cody's com channel went dead again, another failed attempt to get in contact with his Captain. If he was anxious, no one could tell, because Obi-Wan was good at hiding it. He called Cody again, just not to be responded to, he tried Esinon next, nothing, Gregor, still nothing. Waxer was finally the one who answered,

"Waxer, it's imperative that I speak to my padawan immediately," Obi-Wan said, firmly,

"She's not here at the moment sir,"

"Where is she?" he asked,

"She uh-"

"Waxer," Obi-Wan said, sternly,

"The assassin, or at least someone working for them, tried to shoot her again, and she uh… kinda chased after them."

"Of course she did." he sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.

"She'll be back soon sir, Captain Cody reported they caught the assailant." Waxer said, trying to soothe Obi-Wan's swirling mind.

"Do you know who this assailant is?"

"A transdoshan named Bossk, we have him in Republic custody."

"That's good. Please tell Esinon to contact me as soon as she returns."

"Yes sir," and with that Waxer signed off, leaving a very anxious and exasperated Obi-Wan on the other end of the line.

* * *

Esinon immediately had a comlink thrust into her hands, Waxer rambling something about how General Kenobi needed to talk to her, and he seemed worried, even her speedster mind couldn't keep up.

"Master?" she asked, as soon as the channel opened,

"Esinon Upahara Windcaster, what were you thinking?" a very frustrated Obi-Wan shouted from the other end, she cringed, and the use of the full name, she was in trouble now.

"Master I can-"

"That was very reckless, padawan mine, going after an assassin? And while injured? Do you know how dangerous that is?"

"I know Master, I'm sorry," she mumbled, hanging her head in shame.

"Esinon, I know that you are getting older and exploring how far you push yourself, but I do not want to report your death to the council. You can't just try to beat them at their own game by yourself, now you are to wait at the temple until I return, do you understand me?"

"Yes, Master,"

"Stay safe, padawan mine," he said softly, she nodded her head, even though he couldn't see her. She knew that his lecture was out of concern, but it didn't make her feel any less ashamed, she knew she could have waited until Master Kenobi came back, but then again, they wouldn't have gotten Bossk, and he was their best lead to whoever was trying to kill her. But she didn't exactly feel like disobeying Obi-Wan at the moment unless she wanted another lecture.

**A few hours later…**

Click, click, click, she slid the dial of the sniper, she stared through the crosshair, one eye closed as she drew the target towards the Scipian that was currently meditating in the temple gardens. Aurra was positioned inside an abandoned skyscraper, belly pressed to the floor, and elbows resting against the durasteel as she placed her finger on the trigger,

"Just a little more," she murmured, tightening her stance, the Jedi shifted slightly in her meditation, lock on target, "This is for Boba," she growled, firing, the sharp flash of the gun blinded her momentarily, as her eyes refocused, the Jedi was gone. Aurra sat up in shock, where had she gone? Before she got an answer, because a swift kick to the back of her head, knocked her out cold.

"Take that ya pasty-faced glue stick," Esinon said, staring at Aurra's still form. There, it was over.

**A few minutes later…**

"How did you know she was up here?" Master Kenobi asked, having returned from his mission.

"She tried to shoot me again, and I was just faster," Esinon said, seemingly very proud of herself, as Coruscant guard loaded Aurra into a transport, heading for the Republic prison. Obi-Wan sighed,

"You scare me sometimes, padawan mine."

"Well look on the bright side, Aurra's about to be in lock-up, which means no more secret assassins!" she exclaimed, Obi-Wan ruffled her hair,

"You always find a bright side to everything,"

"Because there always is one." she said, placing her hands on her hips, "Speaking of which, I should probably tell Senator Clovis, I'm gonna be alright. I also want to know if there was another senate meeting," she rambled, Obi-Wan froze,

"Esinon, I have something to tell you…" she could immediately sense his growing anxiousness, and worry,

"Master, is something wrong?"

"You won't be able to see Senator Clovis anymore," he said, struggling to figure out how to tell his padawan the news of the Senator.

"What do you mean?" she asked tentatively, fearing the worst.

"Senator Clovis betrayed the Republic to the Separatists. We're being shipped out to Geonosis to destroy a new droid factory, he was in part of building." Esinon's heart dropped, "I'm so sorry." Everything was crushed inside of her, her heart fracturing into a million pieces.

"If it's ok, I need to be by myself for a little bit," she whispered, Obi-Wan nodded, in a flash, his padawan was gone.

**A few hours later…**

Esinon stared at the signet painting, her eyes welling with tears, How could he? She trusted Senator Clovis, and he betrayed her? Her fists clenched in anger, as she stared at Clovis's fingerprints on the painting, he was no longer part of her tribe. She took her fingernails, scraping away a large chunk of the painting before tossing it on the couch and locking herself into her room.

**A few hours later…**

Obi-Wan had been staring at the signet painting for the past ten minutes, staring at the large chunk of paint that had been removed, trying to think of something, anything to say to his padawan. What could he say? She trusted Clovis, and this betrayal was coming as a shock, he sighed, and walked down the hallway of their apartment and knocked on Esinon's door.

"Esinon, can I talk to you?" the door clicked, opening slightly. His padawan was sitting in the middle of her room, surrounded by a bunch of very small parts, her tongue poking out from in between her lips in concentration, as she screwed in another bolt to what looked like a tiny pod-racer. "Esinon,"

"If this is about Clovis-"

"It is, I think we should talk about it."

"There isn't anything to talk about. He made his choice, and I'm making mine," she said, coldly, Obi-Wan probed their force bond gently, he immediately felt shoved back, a wall being built around her emotions, he again tried to wheedle his way in, but she shoved him out again, giving him an icy glare.

"Esinon,"

"Master. I really don't want to talk about it. Clovis can go rot with the Separatists for all I care." she snapped, Obi-Wan froze at the harsh words spouting from his padawan's mouth. She pressed her hands to her head, "I'm sorry," she whispered, he sat down next to her, putting a comforting arm around her, her shoulder's trembling as she tried to press all her emotions downwards, in a box that would never be found again.

"It's alright, being betrayed hurts, and unfortunately it never comes from your enemies," he said, thinking about Slick and Christophsis, that was only one night before Esinon had arrived, a little whirlwind of energy that had flipped his whole life upside down.

"I wish bacta could fix this," she whimpered,

"I know," he whispered, stroking her hair gently, the wall around her emotions began falling, and she let Obi-Wan in, allowing the sweet honey-lemon scent of his robes fill her nose.

* * *

**Because Star Wars isn't Star Wars until your in a poncho, welcome to the poncho gang Esinon. Stupid Senator Clovis.**

**Also, ever since I saw Missing in Action, I've loved Gregor, so I wanted to see him some. You'll see when Sarrish happens, don't worry. **

**No spoilers here, but SIEGE OF MANDALORE HAS ME SHOOK. DAVE FILONI PLEASE QUIT TOYING WITH MY EMOTIONS. **

**Update on the Tornado Trio Spin-off series, I'll probably be starting that sometime soon, you'll know when I post it I guess :). If you guys have any suggestions for that, go ahead and leave it in the reviews or PM me.**

**Ok, next up on let's make this cannon corner: Ahsoka has reverse grip everything, not just lightsabers, forks, pencils, anything she holds in her hands. **

**Thank you for reading! Make sure to leave a review! **


	14. Landing at Point Rain

**The next day, high above Geonosis…**

"So let me guess, your one click-clack away from being fluent in Geonosian." Obi-Wan teased his padawan, as they entered the bridge, where a large Besalisk Jedi stood, with his four arms folded neatly behind his back, as he surveyed the planet below.

"Nah, Geonosian, is one of the hardest languages to learn, I'm currently studying Mando' a," she said,

"And who are you learning that from?" he asked,

"Fives and Echo," she replied,

"They better not teach you any swear words," Obi-Wan said, sternly,

"Echo would never let that happen," Esinon said, flashing a toothy grin.

"Master Kenobi, Padawan Windcaster," Master Krell greeted,

"Hello, Master Krell!" Esinon said cheerily, waving, Krell gave a small wave, a tiny smile cracking on his lips, unable to resist the young girl's infectious personality. Master Kenobi came to rest next to Master Krell, while Esinon checked on a few different logistical things with the clones.

"I cannot believe we're back here again," Obi-Wan said, breaking the silence, thinking about how unpleasant and tragic their last battle a Geonosis had been. The start of the war. He noticed his padawan's eye flick in his direction for a brief second, sensing his sadness towards the cataclysm that was the first battle of Geonosis.

"It is unfortunate." Master Krell replied, "The resistance from the native Geonosians was stronger than we anticipated." the whoosh of blast doors caught the attention of all three Jedi.

"You're late," Obi-Wan said turning to face them,

"Sorry Master, we were rerouting the seppies near Dorin." Anakin said,

"My squadron alone had 55 kills." Ahsoka boasted,

"Yeah, but mine had 76." he retorted,

"Show-off," she said rolling her eyes,

"I'm glad to see you two are enjoying yourselves," Obi-Wan sardonically, Esinon opened her mouth about to ask if she and Obi-wan could do the same thing, "No, Esinon," he said, reading her mind. Her mouth snapped shut in a pout, huffily crossing her arms.

"It's just a little friendly competition. Nothing to worry about." Anakin responded smiling at his former master,

"What I worry about is that this war seems to be dragging out with no end." Master Krell interjected,

"Which is why it is crucial that our invasion is a success." Her master said,

"I agree," the large Jedi replied, "Contact the outer rim, we're ready for our briefing."

"They're already waiting for us," Ahsoka said,

**The Debriefing Room…**

She looked at the maps of the plans curiously, she could sense her master's anxiety about this mission. They had to take Geonosis or the Republic would be overrun with droids, but something told her that the Geonosians were loyal, especially after all the studies she had done on the first battle of Geonosis. They were met with Master Yoda, Master Windu, Chancellor Palpatine, and Master Unduli in hologram form.

"Our ships are in position, and we are ready to begin our campaign against the Geonosians." Obi-Wan began,

"And what about Poggle? Any report on his location?" Windu inquired,

"It seems he's holed up at the primary droid factory here." Obi-Wan pointed to a large building towards the middle of the map encased in a large red shield. That wasn't going to be fun to get past, "The factory is protected by a shield generator. Anakin, Pong, and I shall attempt a three-pronged attack through their defense lines to a staging area just short of the shield. Once we have landed, we shall knock out the shield generator. That is our primary target."

"Isn't it risky committing three generals to one area of the attack? If something were to go wrong we could be dealt serious blows." Palpatine cut in,

"To ensure that rise Geonosis does not capture Poggle we must." Yoda answered, "Of course, as always I will leave the strategizing to you, Master Jedi."

"Our thanks Chancellor, and may the force be with you." Cody strode into the commander center, catching everyone's attention.

"Good, Cody. These are the coordinates for the rendezvous. When we hit the ground, we'll create a perimeter. Getting past their defenses here will be the trick. General Krell will come across the defensive lines from the north. We will make our assault through the middle. General Skywalker will make his attack on the defensive lines from the south, and we will meet at the rendezvous point at 0700 exactly If we meet with strong resistance and are forced down away from the landing zone, hold out until we join our forces before attacking the shield generator." Obi-Wan swiftly informed Cody,

"Their front lines are heavily fortified with that wall, just look at all those gun emplacements. That won't be easy to get past." Ahsoka said nervously,

"Don't worry Snips, we won't be going anywhere near that," Anakin replied,

"What happened to the enthusiasm I saw earlier?" Obi-Wan joked,

"Gentlemen, if you are quite finished we have a battle to attend to," Luminara said annoyed,

"Indeed." her hologram fizzled out,

"Cody, prep the gunships. We'll meet you in the hanger."

"Sir yes, sir." The five of them left the debriefing room. She followed him down to the landing bay and towards their ship,

"Master, any details about the first battle of Geonosis that I can't learn in a book?" she asked, joining him on the gunship, taking a handle.

"You didn't miss much. Last time I was attached to a large pole and attacked by several vicious monsters."

"That sounds… entertaining," she said adopting his sarcastic tone.

"It was, for the Geonosians." he retorted, she rolled her eyes as the door to the ship closed taking them into the sky. Crashes and explosions sounded outside as they left the hanger. Everyone inside lurched about as the pilot tried to dodge all the laser fire, they needed to make it to the landing zone. A few more agonizing minutes passed of the quaking and being thrown about the ship, "Everyone get ready to move upon landing." he instructed,

"General Kenobi! Don't land, the zone is hot!" she heard Cody yell through the comlink,

"There's nowhere else to go!" he shouted, CRASH! Smoke started pouring in through the side of the ship, "We're hit! We're going down!" a loud alarm went off through the ship, "Brace yourselves!" he shouted, she gripped on tighter to the handle, putting her other on the side of the ship. The ship plunged into the ground and rolled over itself so many times. She lost her grip and was thrown into the top of the ship, she hit the ground hard gasping for breath, sand was spilling in the sides, and more guns were firing in the distance, a loud CRACK sounded throughout the ship, a piece of the roof detached from the rest of the ship, landing square on top of her, the world went dark.

* * *

"Rex - what's the word - can Obi-Wan help us or not!" Anakin yelled jumping over the ridge for cover,

"I don't think so sir, Cody said that General Kenobi never made it to the landing site. They think that his ship got shot down."

"Great! The one time I actually ask for his help, he's nowhere to be found."

"What if something happened to him - what if he's injured -" Ahsoka stuttered,

"No time for talk like that, we have to keep moving. I'm worried about him too Snips. We have to keep our minds here and now or we'll never be able to help Obi-Wan."

* * *

"Boil reporting as ordered, sir"

"Waxer reporting as ordered, sir"

"We have a downed gunship five klicks east. We believe it's General Kenobi's, I need you to go there and check for survivors." Cody instructed, sending the two troopers off,

"Sir yes sir!" The two clone troopers ran out dodging shots from the battlefield, headed five klicks East in the hope that all hope wasn't lost.

* * *

Obi-Wan woke up gripping his head, his eyes moved around the dark interior of the ship. "Is anyone there!" he shouted,

"I'm still here, General," Trapper mumbled turning his head to face his General,

"Esinon! Esinon!" he shouted into the interior of the ship, he heard no answer, "Esinon! I need you to answer me!" he shouted again, beginning to become more panicked. He heard no answer again, his head sank, she must have died in the crash along with the other troopers. A few seconds passed when he heard a cry,

"Master! Master!" Esinon's panicked cries echoed through the destroyed ship, "I'm stuck! I can't move!"

"It's alright! I'm coming!" he called back, attempting to get to his feet, he promptly stumbled back downwards, he couldn't walk on his own, "Esinon, I need you to stay where you are!"

"Ok Master," she called back, grunting in pain,

* * *

She tried to stay as still as possible following her master's orders, she was stuck underneath what looked to be like most of the cockpit and a part of the ship's roof. Her side hurt so bad, she could see her red blood on the sand. Someone would be here soon, someone would be here soon, she kept thinking, trying to concentrate on her breathing, since it definitely felt like she may have crushed a rib… or two. She heard a loud creak, and she could see sunlight pouring into the dark ship.

* * *

The door to the ship creaked open, Obi-Wan shielded his eyes to the bright light that was spilling in, he saw Waxer and Boil standing in front of him.

"Waxer, Boil, I'm glad to see you. Trapper, Esinon, and I are the only ones still alive. She's stuck under some debris farther into the ship."

"Good to see you sir," Boil replied helping him up, "We'll have another trooper coming in to collect the commander."

"Good man," he said in between coughs as they made their way to a safe zone. He sat down, Waxer and Boil made their way back to the crashed ship. They pointed the lights on their helmets to see a still small body underneath some debris.

"There she is," Waxer said rushing over, he gently tapped her shoulder, "Commander, Commander, are you alright?"

"I'm still breathin' right? she joked tiredly lifting her eyes. Boil spotted the bloody sand next to her, he glanced at Waxer,

"We've got to figure out a way to move the debris, and fast," he said, eyeing the pool of blood that was steadily growing. She shifted slightly,

"I can hold the ship up for a brief second, but you'll have to be quick," she said,

"Good a plan as any," Waxer said, as another explosion sounded outside. "On the count of three," Esinon held her hands up towards the top of the ship, "One, two, three," she used all of her might shove the ship upward, freeing her, Boil quickly grabbed her, as the three of them rushed out of the ship, Boil didn't bother to set Esinon down, carrying her to the safe zone, and depositing her gently next to a grateful Obi-Wan.

"Are you alright?" he asked before she could answer, Drummer had already rushed over, looking the pair of Jedi over for injury. He immediately noticed the blood covering Esinon's side, she gave him a nod, he reached gently pulling her tunic up, Obi-Wan sensed Drummer's brief flash of panic, which disappeared in milliseconds,

"Drummer, what is it?"

"Wound's pretty bad, but I'll give stitches now, we don't want that getting infected. She's got two, maybe three crushed ribs, I can't tell." Drummer said, administering an anesthetic.

"Just do it," Esinon whispered, he said opening his medical kit to prep stitches, he could sense her fear, this was probably her first time getting stitches. He was getting anxious just looking at the needle that Drummer was getting ready.

"It's ok, I'm right here." Obi-Wan said, pulling his padawan closer, here they were getting ready to give Esinon stitches in the midst of battle, crashes and laser fire rang around them. Sometimes he forgot how young she was, this thirteen-year-old was being so brave. The 212th had made a defensive circle of ships around the landing zone. Esinon turned her head away, her nervous, sweaty hand gripping a fistful of his tunic. He guarded her head trying to keep her from seeing the needle that was starting to go into her side. He kept an eye on the medic, "Almost done," Obi-Wan said, she nodded her head refusing to look. Drummer pulled the string gently and tied it off. He quickly bandaged it after slathering the wound in bacta.

"All done," he said, pulling his hands away,

"I expect a sucker or something for hold so still." Esinon joked, pulling away from her master,

"I'll see what I can do." Drummer said the battle continued bombs exploding everywhere and Geonsians at every turn. The 212th just had to hold this position until the other Master's arrived. Screaming and flak explosions pounded in her ears, all she could feel was pain, this was pain of emotions, crying, screaming, blood, and agony.

"Where's our reinforcements?!" a trooper yelled,

"Watch your left, watch your left!" another screamed, dead lay all around, she had never seen so many dead troopers.

"There's too many of them!" someone cried, another pained scream pounded in her ears as another trooper fell to his death. Another, another, another, everyone collapsing around her. She gripped her lightsaber tightly as her hands trembled, they were basically helpless, she could stand but her master wasn't going to let her out of his sight. She held herself up using the crates deflecting blasts that were headed for her master, she could sense a disturbance in the force. She looked to Cody who was enveloped in the battle, out of pure instinct she tackled him to the ground, a shot fired over their heads where Cody had just been. She rolled over coughing. "Ugh, I think I busted a stitch," she grumbled, gripping her side.

"How- how- did you know?"

"Jedi?" Even she was questioning how she had known that was coming. A ship exploded next to them, the Geonosians were starting to break through their defenses. Obi-Wan struggled to his feet, igniting his lightsaber, Esinon looked around hoping with everything she would see the others, this wasn't going to last much longer. She heard a joyous scream,

"Reinforcements have arrived!" bombing ships flew over demolishing all the Geonosians outside the circle. The General and the Commander tiredly sank to their feet. Cheers rang through the circle as the troops took off to meet up with the reinforcements. "We did it," she mumbled, with a tired smile on her dusty face.

"Yes we did young one, yes we did." Esinon turned her head to see Master Skywalker and Krell running over,

"Esinon!" Ahsoka shouted, running over and kneeling down next to her friend, noticing the dried blood lining her tunic.

"I'm alright 'Soka, promise."

"I'm still having Kix look at you, you stubborn bantha." she retorted, Esinon rolled her eyes, a smile spreading across her face.

"What happened to you two?" Anakin asked crouching down,

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Obi-Wan scoffed,

**A few minutes later…**

"Our combined forces should be enough to destroy the shield generator. Anakin you'll need to take a small squad through the shields, as close as you can get to their gun emplacements. From there you'll be able to temporarily disable their scanners so they are unable to target the incoming tanks."

"Consider it done master," Anakin said, the clones and their respective Generals gathered their stuff and took off. What was left of Esinon and Obi-Wan's squad were holding position where they were, mostly Obi-Wan was watching what Anakin was doing, it wasn't long before the red shield on the factory fell, for today, the battle was over.

* * *

Esinon slowly limped towards the gunship, each breath getting harder to draw in from her crushed ribs.

"Would you like some help?" she turned her head up to see a clone in maroon armor, a trooper from Krell's legion, the 673rd, an aurebesh zero and one marked on the top of his helmet.

"Yes please," she said, as she gratefully leaned her weight against him, she could see Master Kenobi in the gunship with Master Krell.

"Well, take care of yourselves, I expect to see both of you back here by the time I've destroyed the main factory," Anakin said,

"We shall do our best," Obi-Wan said,

"Save some droids for me," Esinon said, cheerfully,

"No promises Speeds," Anakin replied, placing his hands behind his back.

"Fine," she huffed,

"I'm sure you'll get your chance." Obi-Wan said, "Unfortunately, this battle is far from over." she looked up at her master, he seemed rattled, he had been since she had gotten the stitches like he was reminded of something when it happened. She shook her head, shoving the feeling away as the gunship pulled up into the air.

**A few minutes later…**

"Full immersion."

"Gosh darn it." Esinon sighed, as Drummer put away his things,

"If you want to get out onto the field, you need to heal, full immersion is the best way to do that," he said, motioning to her now purplish and red ribs.

"Fine," she grumbled, in a few minutes she was changed and Drummer was plunging a sedative into her skin as she slid in the slimy sweet bacta.

* * *

Loud shouting echoed in her ears, she quickly surveyed her surroundings, a dense forest, filled with lush trees, whose branches dipped down to the ground, their leaves kissing the grass below.

"Hurry," it was the man from her pod race dream, he motioned for her to follow, she obeyed,

"Who are you?" she asked, as they continued to dart through the trees, the voices growing louder,

"No time, we have to hurry," he replied, dragging her further along,

"Hurry where?" she asked, frustrated with a lack of answers. They ducked and weaved through the thick forest for a while, as the voices became faint. They ran into a clearing where the fiery remains of a camp lay, the man froze,

"Oh no," he whispered,

"What- what's wrong?" she asked, tugging on his sleeve trying to get his attention.

"Obi-Wan!" he called, ignoring her, "Obi, are you here?"

"Master Jedi, is that you?" a female voice called,

"Satine," he whispered, a blond girl, that looked like she could only be a few years older than Esinon, poked her head out from inside a bush,

"Obi-Wan's hurt," she whimpered, the man offered her his hand, helping her out of the bush, he then ignited his lightsaber and cut away the shrubbery, revealing a blood-soaked boy.

"Master?" he asked weakly, familiar blue-gray eyes staring at the man.

"It's alright Obi, you're safe now." that was her master, she stepped backward, almost tripping over some rubble from the campsite. "Satine, what happened here?"

"They came and attacked our camp, and we hid, I didn't know what else to do."

"You did the right thing, come on, the ship isn't far from here." the man said, hefting a tired Obi-Wan into his arms, the man turned nodding his head for her to follow him.

"Who are you?" she asked again,

"Child, we don't have time for this, come with me. Now," he instructed,

"No. Not till you explain what's going here!" she shouted, balling her fists, the man sighed

"Then I guess you will stay here," he said, walking off, with Satine in toe. Esinon didn't move, she scrunched her eyes shut, willing herself to wake up.

* * *

**Mystery man is back! Sorry to end on a cliffhanger.**

**Also, the trooper who helped Esinon onto the gunship, he's important for the next chapter, so is the fact that Krell is here. **

**Here's a couple review answers: Esinon is going to be heavily involved in Umbara, I'm currently writing that arc right now and it's getting sooooo angsty. And I think for Ahsoka and Esinon talking about their fighting styles I think I'll do that in the tornado trio spin-off, or if it happens in this one, it probably won't happen for a while, I have a plan, don't worry! :) **

**For the Tornado Trio spin-off the first one will be a missing scene from the battle of Christophsis when Ahsoka and Esinon first met, then a missing scene from the malevolence when Plo Koon first met Xavier, then the next one will be a clone party. Take that as you will ;).**

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: Fives likes to sing, but he can't sing. Much to the dismay of everyone else trying to take a shower, or sleep. **

**Thanks for reading! Make sure to leave a review! **


	15. Legacy of Terror

**Wait! Before we get to the good chapter that is up ahead, I just wanted to say thank you all reading and reviewing this story! We are almost to 3,000 views in less than two months. THAT'S INSANE! Thank you guys so much, you all are amazing, and I'm glad you've come to love Esinon as I have. Ok, now we can go**

* * *

After hours, and hours, she was finally out of the bacta tank, stupid dreams, stupid, stupid, dreams. They were making her hate going in the bacta tank more than ever, yet she was still somewhat intrigued, by the man, why she saw a younger version of her master, who that woman was, but all those questions would have to wait, because this speedster was hungry. She walked down the hall with a little bounce in her step, now she could finally eat something, she was starving,

"CC-1111!" she heard a voice shout, "Can you not follow orders at all?!" a loud crash came from the direction of the shouting.

"What in the name of the force?" she asked, changing directions and heading towards the loud crashing and shouting that was getting louder as she drew closer. She saw a clone come flying out of the command center, and a big meaty hand following it, Krell, she used her speed to jump in front of the clone who was struggling to get up, "Don't you dare lay another hand on him." She growled,

"Padawan, get out of the way, this does not involve you," she called her lightsaber to her hand, threatening to ignite it. Krell glared at her before storming off, deciding the Padawan wasn't worth his time and energy. Esinon turned to the clone who was gripping his side, who she recognized as Krell's commander; it was the same one who had helped her into the gunship. She knelt down, helping him to his feet,

"Are you alright?" she asked, the trooper didn't answer, leaning heavily upon her. She was gonna take that as a no, she used the force to straighten up a little bit helping him as they slowly made their way to the medbay. She helped him onto a bed, quietly pulling away his armor and blacks leaving him bare-chested so Esinon could tend to the wounds. The soldier had finally seemed to gain awareness of what was going on, as she reached to press her hand against his ribs to check for anything broken, he flinched away from her touch and placed a hand over his injuries in a defensive position. "It's ok, I'm not gonna hurt you." she said softly, holding her hands up where he could see them when he had studied the child's hands for a few minutes, he seemed satisfied, he tentatively removed his arm letting her hand press gently along his ribs, nothing felt broken but she could tell by his slight winces that they were going to bruise, she walked over grabbing some bandages, starting to spray bacta over them, "So if you don't know, I'm Esinon, what's your name?"

"CC-1111," he replied, she gave him a confused look,

"That's your number, I want your name," she said, struggling to wrap the bandages because her arms didn't reach all the way, he used his free hand to help her, handing her the roll of bandages, "Thanks,"

"You're welcome, my name's Uno," he said,

"Well it's nice to meet you Uno, arms up," she said, he obeyed, as she began wrapping the bacta soaked bandages around his injured ribs. A silence fell over the two, she was tempted to ask about Krell and what exactly happened between the two of them, but she could tell that if she asked Uno wasn't going to answer truthfully if he answered at all. These wounds didn't look like they had been sustained in battle, not the battle outside anyways. She finished patching him up in quiet, "There you go,"

"Thank you," Uno said, she gave a nod as he got ready to leave she stopped him,

"If you need anything, just contact me." she said, smiling softly, he nodded before leaving.

**A few hours later…**

Krell had sent Esinon to the clone barracks to gather everyone for training and said something about how the last mission was such a disaster that they needed it. With Master Kenobi still in the bacta tank, she was essentially subjected under Krell's orders, it was annoying, but he was a knight and she wasn't. So she had to listen, she stopped in front of the 673rd's barracks, she was about to tell them all to come to training when she heard voices emanating from inside.

"Face it, we drew the short straw when getting assigned." she heard a voice grumble,

"Whether you like it or not the General's still in charge."

"I know that, but I'm more afraid of getting killed by the General than the clankers!" he shot back, Esinon stayed plastered to the wall, she shouldn't eavesdrop but she was curious about what happened to Uno. "Have you heard from the other legions? They've had Jedi almost die for them! Captain Cody is alive because Commander Windcaster almost took a blaster bolt for him! I don't see General Krell doing that for any of us! Generals Kenobi and Skywalker are out there leading their men in the front, not bringing up the rear while we die like General Krell." the clone ranted, "And you know what scares me the most?"

"I'm sure you're gonna tell me."

"The Commander thinks he deserves this!" he kept going, "After every single battle the Commander receives more injuries off the field than on the field!" Esinon's comlink buzzed, she slapped a hand over it, probably Krell getting ready to yell at her for not getting the clones to training on time. The talking quieted in the other room, they must have heard her, she knocked on the door,

"We've got training, let's go!" she called, using her speed to disappear to the training room. Was Krell really that bad? She hugged her arms to her chest as clones started filing into the training room.

"I'm gonna beat you this time Commander." Gregor joked, nudging her gently snapping her out of her trance.

"Oh, uh- not on your life." she quickly said,

"You ok Commander?" he asked, noticing her witty response wasn't as quick as it usually was.

"Course I am! I was just thinking about the best way to work a hide and seek game into training," she said, only half-joking, rubbing her hands together. He ruffled her hair before joining the other clones. A mix of maroon and orange troopers stood in front of her, she placed her hands on her hips. "Alright men, take a lap to warm up and we'll go from there."

**One hour later…**

Uno stood off to the side, as soon as the Commander had picked him out in the crowd, she had made him sit out. Cortex and Spock were currently sparring, he glanced through his brothers' arms and legs to see Commander Windcaster and a clone commando who were in a one-armed push-up competition, she feigned a yawn with her free hand, Cortex and Spock paused noticing him watching. Uno quickly shifted his eyes to the ground,

"See Commander? That's what it's supposed to be like." Cortex said, "You know, Jedi."

"Yeah I know Cortex." Uno snapped, an annoyed glare was doing little to cover up what he was actually thinking. He was thinking about how he wished he could get a transfer to the 212th, or anywhere else. He shook his head, did he really just think that? He silently chastised himself. He wasn't created to make decisions about what happened to him, he was supposed to follow orders and he had been assigned to the 673rd, no matter how much he might not like it.

"Alright everybody! Amazing work today, those Geonosians should be worried as soon as we hit the field again. Everyone break for the mess!" Esinon said, hopping to her feet,

"Sir yes sir!" they all responded, she placed her hands on her hips, looking very satisfied with herself, it was quite short-lived when the door to the training room burst open,

"Finished already?" Krell asked, looking at the crowd of troopers in front of him that were just about to get something to eat.

"Yes Master Krell, they've worked very hard, and I think you'll see a major improvement." she said, happily, Uno cringed slightly, she was blissfully unaware about how unsatisfied their General could be.

"You've only been at it for three hours. I expect the quota of five to be met." he said sternly.

"Padron me, Master Krell, but the quota after battle is only three hours. And I would know, because Cody has brought me up to date on all standard protocol," she said, innocently, Krell looked to the 212th captain for affirmation,

"It's true sir, she's worked very hard to learn all the protocol," Cody said proudly, Krell's eyes shifted along the troopers,

"Fine," he said, exiting the room, she sighed, a brief expression of relief crossing her face, which she quickly covered up,

"Alright everyone! Let's eat!"

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon sat eating lunch with Waxer, Boil, Gregor, and Cody, she spotted Uno searching for a place to sit, she leapt out of her seat,

"Uno!" she waved her hand wildly, catching the clone commander's attention, he walked over tentatively and sat down, "Everyone, this is Uno, I met him today." she quickly introduced him,

"And why am I not surprised," Waxer sighed, Uno had a confused look on his face, looking for an explanation, "She made friends with a battle droid once."

"Poor thing just needed a hug." Esinon huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, giving an exaggerated pout,

"Droids can't feel Commander," Cody said,

"Spinner can, and so could that one." she argued, Cody sighed in defeat,

"Alright you win, I see you've inherited General Kenobi's negotiation abilities." her face snapped back into a smile. Soon a few more clones from the 673rd joined them. She stared at Cortex, studying his face for a minute,

"Hang on…. I know you! You're the cadet I cleaned up with on Kamino!" she exclaimed, "So you finally made it out here?"

"Yessir, I completed my training a few months after the attack."

"That's amazing!" she beamed,

"Haven't let the excitement go to my head. Yet." he joked, she gave a mock frown,

"Better follow my advice, trooper, or I'll mop the floor with you in training." she teased,

"Sir yes sir," Cortex replied, saluting her,

* * *

Uno was starting to warm up to the 212th troopers, and the little Tasmanian devil of a commander that looked like she was always three seconds from jumping out of her seat, Waxer blamed it on the fact that she had been in the bacta tank, and apparently she hated that. She was currently in the middle of recounting the battle of Kamino, everything seemed like it was gonna be ok until his peace and joy was rudely interrupted by the presence of a certain Besalisk Jedi.

"Padawan, what are you doing?" she paused mid-sentence, her hands up in the air with an imaginary lightsaber in her hands, engaged in battle with an imaginary Ventress,

"I'm telling a story," she said, dropping her hands to her sides, still standing on her seat,

"To the clones?"

"Yeah, who else would I tell? Ahsoka's out, and I've already told her this story," she said, matter of factly, Uno cringed slightly, Krell wasn't gonna like that.

"But the clones are not worth your time," he said, Boil's eyebrows furrowed, Esinon noticed it,

"Why aren't they? They seem pretty cool to me. I mean, look at this face," she said, motioning to Waxer, who gave a big goofy grin, "How could you not love that face, and lucky for you, their clones!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms up, Krell glared at her,

"I thought you might like to know Master Kenobi is awake, you might find your time more well spent with him then these sorry excuses for soldiers." Gregor looked like he was three seconds from tackling Krell to the ground, Esinon put a hand on Gregor's head, which is all that was needed to restrain him.

"Hang on, what do you mean sorry excuses for soldiers? These are some of the finest I've ever served with." The small Scipian Jedi was now standing on the table, getting at eye level with Krell. "And I think you should start treating them as such." she glared at him with a ferocity that Uno had never seen before, "Especially your commander, I only met him today, but I can sense the kind of person he is. He only wants to please you,"

"Padawan Windcaster. Go see your master. Now." Krell commanded, she glared at him for a minute more, before hopping off the table not breaking her gaze with Krell, as soon as she had disappeared around the corner Krell addressed the troopers, "I want two more hours of training before the end of the day."

"But sir-" Cody began,

"Do not argue with me CC-2224." Krell snapped, "Two hours." Uno sighed as his General left,

**In the medbay…**

Skritch, scratch, skritch, skritch, Obi-Wan turned his head to see his padawan, very grouchily, moving her stylus across her datapad,

"You're here already padawan mine?" he asked, he knew that Esinon didn't like being in the medbay in general, even when she wasn't being treated.

"Master Krell told me to come in here." she huffed, her stylus starting to move more furiously over the pad.

"And you're upset, why?"

"He was being mean to the clones, and I stood up for them. He got all mad and subtracted me from the equation," she growled, her hand moving faster.

"Esinon, slow down," he said, placing his hand over hers stopping the stylus mid-sketch.

"I'm sorry master, I just- I don't understand."

"Understand what?"

"Why Master Krell doesn't like the clones," she said,

"I'm sure it only looks that way from a certain point of view." he said, pulling the datapad from her hands, looking at the sketches of heroic-looking clones, in the midst of battle, along with a few doodles of Ahsoka and Xavier. "You are quite protective of the clones, like they are of you. Probably a few, not well-placed comments looked like cruelty, but you must remember, Master Krell is a Jedi, and he would not break the code. Trust me, little one."

"Alright Master, if you say so,"

"Now, go take your nervous energy somewhere else so I can sleep." he said, handing her datapad back to her.

"Yes Master," she gathered her things and walked through the base searching for Waxer, maybe they could find a new prank to pull, preferably before Boil tried to discourage them from doing so. Strangely, all the halls were empty, ghostly empty. She turned another corner, still nothing, she checked the barracks next, no one was anywhere. She followed the beckoning of the force towards the training room, where muffled grunting and blaster fire. "I thought I told them…" she pushed the door open to the 673rd and 212th engaged in a training simulation. All eyes turned to the young Scipian, clutching a datapad to her chest. "What are you guys doing?"

**A few minutes later…**

Unfortunately for Esinon, she couldn't overrule Krell's orders since he was General and she was Commander, and Uno had advised her against continuing to argue with Krell. So a very scowly Jedi was overseeing the remaining hour and forty-five minutes of training that the clones had left, stupid Krell, stupid orders, stupid protocol. When she was older. Things would be different.

**A few hours later…**

"The factory is coming down!" Waxer yelled, skidding around a corner,

"Really?!" Esinon shouted, chasing after Waxer, Boil, and Cody to the command center. They couldn't see the factory from their position, but they could see the smoke spiraling into the sky. Cody flipped on a holo-map of the factory, the spires toppling towards the ground. Esinon clasped the metal lining of the holo-table, she could sense Ahsoka in distress. "You don't think…"

"Think what?" Waxer asked,

"Nothing, Ahsoka's fine," she replied, mostly talking to herself.

"What's all the ruckus about?" Krell asked, entering the command center,

"The droid factory is coming down, sir." Cody replied,

"Skywalker came through, once again." Krell said, a hint of a smile appearing on his face. Esinon's thoughts were torn from Ahsoka to what her Master said, '_From a certain point of view,' _Master Krell did seem in a better mood than he was earlier, maybe it was because he got to eat. According to Ahsoka, she was all kinds of mean when she didn't get enough to eat.

"Which means, we have more work to do." Master Kenobi said, walking into the control room. "Cody, gather the men, we're going to search for Poggle."

"Yes sir," Cody said, saluting him and exiting the room with Waxer and Boil on his tail.

"Esinon, you'll stay here, look over some star charts." Master Kenobi said,

"Why?" she whined,

"Because the clones can handle this, and I think you've had enough excitement for a while." he said, "I promise that if we even think we've found Poggle, I'll contact you and you can come out."

"Fine," Esinon grumbled, sitting back down in a chair in the control room. Obi-Wan gave a nod before exiting, why was he being so protective? Those stitches really rattled him, she really needed to ask him about that, but Obi-Wan had been scarce, and she had been too wrapped up in training clones, and trying to figure out what was up with Uno and Krell. With that whole legion really, "One mystery at a time." she mumbled to herself, flicking on the star charts, her eyes shifting among the coordinates.

**A few hours later…**

The blast door whoosh opened, Esinon barely lifting her eyes from her sketchbook, abandoning the charts she had been staring at for hours.

"Hey Uno," she greeted, having sensed his presence upon him entering.

"Well this is the last place I expected you to be," he said, the door closing behind him.

"Well, sometimes one does long for the mundane comfort of star charts." she replied, "And then sometimes one becomes frustrated with how overprotective their master is."

"I'm sorry sir?" Uno was still confused about the young commander was talking about,

"I dunno," she said, finally tearing her attention away from her sketchbook. "I got injured during the battle, and Drummer had to give me impromptu stitches, and Master Kenobi seems quite shaken by it."

"I think that maybe you should talk to him about that then sir," Uno replied,

"Yeah, you're probably right. We really need to get better at the whole communicating thing." she said, mostly to herself, "Thanks Uno."

"No problem sir," he replied, the buzzing of her comlink, caused the padawan to jump almost three feet in the air, scaring poor Uno,

"Finally!" she exclaimed, hurriedly answering it, eagerly waiting for her master to appear on the holo-table.

"I'm on my way back to base now, we still have no sign of Poggle." he said,

"Can I come out and help?" she asked, hopefully,

"Master Luminara is taking care of that right now, stay where you are." he instructed,

"Yes Master," she said, disappointedly, the transmission cutting out. She sighed, flopping back into her chair, Uno shot her a sympathetic look,

"Talk to him," he said, before making his exit from the command center, and Master Krell replacing his presence, and Master Kenobi soon to follow, he proceeded to flick on the star maps,

_Master, can I talk to you? _She asked, telepathically,

_Later Esinon, we have more pressing matters at hand. _She gave a slight nod,

"Poggle's forces seem to have come from the northern hemisphere," he said,

"And where was Master Unduli's last contact made from?" Master Krell asked,

"This region, farther to the west, but there's nothing out there according to our latest intel." Master Kenobi said, right on cue a hologram Luminara appeared on the table,

"Master Unduli, have you found something?" Krell asked,

"Yes, it appears to be a munitions container of some sort," she explained,

"It could be just debris," Krell said,

"I don't think so, there was no battle in this area." Master Unduli said,

"It looks like Poggle was on a direct course, 11, mark 72, that way." the trooper said from off-screen,

"Headed directly for Progate temple." Luminara finished,

"That makes no sense. Nothing in the temple could have survived the munitions we used in the first wave of our attack." Krell argued, "Why would he risk exposure to go there?"

"I'm not sure yet. Perhaps he doesn't realize the extent to which we cleared the area." Master Luminara suggested,

"Or it could be-" Esinon was swiftly cut off by Anakin,

"Luminara, I'm tracking a sandstorm that's heading your way."

"No matter," she replied, "Poggle is out in the open and I intend on capturing him before he can get off-world."

"I advise against it." Master Kenobi cut in, "You could get lost in that storm. Then we'd have to find both you and Poggle."

"I feel it's a risk worth taking,"

"As you wish," Krell said, the transmission ending.

**A few hours later…**

"Something's wrong," Anakin mumbled, relentlessly pacing the floor, while a sandstorm raged outside.

"Patience Skywalker, it's a delicate operation." Esinon had been sitting in a corner for the past few hours, probing her force bond with Obi-Wan, to see if now was a good time to talk but he just kept brushing off, eliciting a very frustrated padawan. "I'm sure we'll have more information soon." Krell finished.

"I admit, I'm troubled that we've not heard from her." Master Kenobi said,

"And I'm quite troubled by you ignoring me," Esinon grumbled to herself,

"Let's not worry yet, Luminara is not one to take unnecessary risks," Krell said, trying to ease Obi-Wan's mind, as the two exited the room.

"You ok Speeds?" Anakin asked, noticing her brow furrowing further,

"Fine," she snapped, saying it more harshly than she intended, "Sorry, it's just I've been trying to talk to Master Kenobi for the past three hours and he keeps ignoring me."

"He's got a lot on his mind right now," Anakin said,

"I know, it's just, kinda important," she mumbled, flicking her padawan braid.

"I'm sure he'll find the time," he said, confidently, the holo-table buzzed, Master Luminara appearing,

"Skywalker, we tracked Poggle to Progate temple, but there's no sign of him anywhere." Esinon quickly waved Obi-Wan and Krell back into the command center,

"Go no further until we can send support. The storm is making it quite difficult. We can barely read your transmission as it is." Obi-Wan said,

"Are you sure he went into the temple?" Krell asked,

"Yes, we saw him enter but we think he went into the catacombs below," Luminara explained,

"Those catacombs go on for miles," Esinon mumbled,

"I fear we may have lost him," Obi-Wan said, stroking his beard. "Get yourself out of there." a garbled scream sounded in the background, Luminara whipped around lightsaber blazing, the transmission starting to glitch out. "Master Unduli? Master Unduli!" Esinon flipped a few switches trying to get the signal back,

"I've lost the signal." Anakin began making his way towards the door,

"Where are you going?" Obi-Wan asked,

"Take a wild guess," Anakin replied,

"We'll never get to her in this storm. The gunships can't handle it." he reasoned,

"We can't wait!" Anakin exclaimed,

"I'm sorry Skywalker. We have no choice." Krell said solemnly, "We must be patient and trust in Master Unduli."

"Esinon and I will leave as soon as the storm lifts." Master Kenobi said Esinon's perked up at the mention of some action, finally.

* * *

The roar of the gunship was deafening as it hovered above the ground, letting out the passengers, two Jedi, and ten troopers in orange.

"Hup," Cody called, as they entered the sandy temple. Esinon's eyes shifted along the statues and carvings of horrid looking Geonosians, faces contorted in screams and cries. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as a shiver ran down her spine,

"Stay alert everyone," Esinon said, as she began to walk the inside of the temple.

"Spread out and look around men," Obi-Wan ordered, Esinon warily shifted through the shadows of the temple, running her fingers along the

aging cracks,

"General!" Cody called, she and Obi-Wan rushed over to him, where he was standing in front of a dead trooper in green. "Buzz is dead sir,"

"Any sign of Luminara?" Obi-Wan asked,

"No sir," Esinon's eyes were drawn away from the trooper to an opening in the ground. That didn't look natural…

"There was a struggle," Obi-Wan said, tearing her away from her thoughts, she crept closer to the opening, "This is not a good sign," she looked up to see him holding Luminara's lightsaber, he handed it to her,

"Master Unduli's lightsaber," she murmured, "Poggle didn't do this." her eyes shifted upward to a statue of a ghastly Geonosian, with what looked like a crown upon its head, why didn't she think of this before? "But maybe that did."

"That is one ugly bug," Cody remarked,

"I haven't seen one like that before," Obi-Wan muttered,

"I don't think anyone has. It's possible it's the Geonosian queen."

"The bugs have a queen?" Cody asked in disgust,

"Rumored." Esinon said, "But no one has ever found any evidence."

"Until now." Obi-Wan said,

"This way, I'll go first," she said, igniting her saber,

"I'll go first," Obi-Wan said, getting in front of his padawan, she sighed, overprotective. Again. "Come on, let's move." They all moved cautiously through the tunnel, well, maybe this would be a good time.

"_Master,"_

"_Yes Esinon?"_

"_I have a question" _

"_What is it?" _ The two Jedi's telepathic conversation was rudely interrupted by Cody, who didn't know any better.

"All of these lead to a dead-end, but this one goes down the farthest," he said, motioning to a small opening. Esinon knelt down, peering into the darkness, "Sir, I'd say that's our best bet." Obi-Wan nodded, going in first, despite Esinon being the best choice to go in first since she was smallest. All of the men were rendered to their hands and knees, while Esinon was shuffling along in a crouch. They exited on the other side, continuing through the damp corridors.

"_Master, about my question." _

"_Go ahead," _

"_You just seemed really rattled by my injury-" _She promptly lost her train of thought due to the buzzing of Obi-Wan's comlink.

"If you're following me, you must leave this place! Just get out!" Luminara cried frantically, "I repeat, fall ba-" she never finished as the transmission cut out,

"She must be close by, come on!" They sprinted around the corner, Obi-Wan held up his hand in a halt, Esinon could sense something it wasn't life… the clones flashed their lights to reveal pale Geonosians. Their eyes were glazed, and they held out their arms limply as they staggered forward.

"I don't like this look of this," Esinon said, tightening her stance, more growling sounded from behind them, she dashed to the other side in front of her troopers as more Geonosians emerged. She leaped into battle as the troopers unleashed fire, she slashed her saber through one of their arms, she expected it to fall, but much to her surprise it didn't. Cody fired a blaster bolt, nailing on in the head, but the creature didn't react. "Master! They aren't dying!"

"Back! Everyone fall back!" Obi-Wan called, Esinon herded the troopers back through the tunnel, "Shoot the tunnel supports." The troopers obeyed the tunnel crumbling behind them as Esinon tumbled through the opening with a cloud of dust not far behind her.

"What were those things?" she grumbled, brushing herself off.

"I've heard stories of a Geonosian hive mind, so powerful, so strong, that it can maintain its connection with its warriors even after they've died," Obi-Wan explained in a solemn tone.

"And you think that's why we couldn't kill them?" she asked, "Because they're…"

"Already dead, yes."

"I wish the things I read in books would stay out of reality," Esinon grumbled,

"Either way, we should call for reinforcements," he said, she pressed her comlink, it flashed red, refusing to open up a channel.

"We're too far underground." she said, "I can't get a signal,"

"You two," Obi-Wan pointed to Gearshift and Reed, "Head back to the surface and contact General Skywalker for help. Tell him we need reinforcements." They gave a quick salute,

"Yes sir," they crawled back through the tunnel, the rest of them got to work on figuring out what to do from there.

"Master,"

he said, catching his attention,

"Right, you're question. Sorry, we kept getting interrupted." he said, "Now, what is it you wanted to ask me?"

"It's just you seemed really rattled by my injury during the battle," she said, "I've been injured before, and yes I was quite anxious about getting stitches, and I thought maybe you just caught some of my worries, but you still seem…"

"Protective?" he asked, listening intently as his padawan tried to explain her feelings.

"Yeah, like you don't trust me to take care of myself," she replied, wringing her fingers slightly out of nervousness.

"Esinon, I'm sorry that I didn't speak with you earlier, your injury did rattle me more than I would like to admit." he confessed, "And I think the reason why is because… when you didn't respond to my call, I could only fear the worst." Her heart clenched, he thought she was dead,

"I-I'm sorry master, I didn't know." she stammered,

"You had no reason to know, I'm sorry I didn't communicate with you," he said,

"How about we make a deal?" she asked,

"What do you propose?"

"I'll promise to be honest with you, if you promise to be honest with me," she said, sticking out her hand,

"That sounds fair, deal," he shook her hand firmly, which she gripped with the same firmness,

"I see you've been shaking hands with Gregor," he said,

"It's a good way to get his attention," she replied, with a large smile on her face, the moment was rudely interrupted by screaming, and blaster fire echoing through the catacombs. Both Jedi whipped around, without a word they both took

off sprinting, Esinon pulling ahead, they soon found both Gearshift and Reed dead,

"These things are a lot more powerful than we assumed." Obi-Wan murmured,

"I'll go get Master Skywalker myself," Esinon said, starting for the exit.

"Hang on, I don't think that's such a good idea. We can't divide our troops again, and we don't have time to double back to the surface. Even with your speed." he said, reading her mind, "Every moment we waste puts Master Unduli in greater danger." Esinon nodded in understanding as they made their back towards the last time Master Unduli had contacted them. They descended further and further down, the humidity becoming suffocating, along with the stench. It smelled like rotting flesh, hot rotting flesh, it was taking all her willpower to not gag.

"It's getting warmer, we must be getting close," Obi-Wan remarked,

"Forget the heat, it stinks down here," she grumbled, they both placed their lightsabers back on their belts, and the troopers shut off their lights as the sound of clicking grew louder,

"Keep your voice down," he whispered,

"I'm just saying. This planet is rotten from the inside out," she replied, they peeked around a corner, a massive Geonosian's face was lit up by Luminara's restraints. She had the face of the carving from outside, the queen. Her body wasn't that of a normal Geonosian, she filled the large chasm it was milky white and lumpy. Many of the screeching zombies were hard at work, but it was hard to make out anything in the darkness. "I've got a bad feeling about this." she murmured,

"It must be the queen." Obi-Wan replied, "Any sign of Luminara?" Cody's visor flashed red for a brief second,

"I see her, she's restrained in front of the throne," Cody replied,

"Perfect, and what about Poggle?" Esinon asked,

"He's speaking with the queen," he said,

"Great. I'll take the soldiers, you take the queen," she said, already formulating a plan.

"You really need to calm your speedster mind," he said,

"Master, please don't tell me you want to talk to it. Let's just get Poggle and Master Unduli and get out of here," she argued,

"Don't tell me you're not curious about why they took Luminara captive. Why not just kill her?"

"My curiosity isn't gonna get us killed today. Master Unduli's a hostage. She's leverage." Esinon said,

"Leverage for what? No there's something else going on here and these zombies have something to do with it," he said, Esinon mulled the idea over her head, and it didn't take long with her speedster mind.

"Alright, but if I die, I'll come back and haunt you every waking hour of your life," she said,

"Fair enough, Cody set up your men around the perimeter. These creatures live in darkness. The light from your helmet should temporarily blind them, turn them on on my signal." he instructed, "They should create enough confusion for us to get Luminara out of here."

"But what happens when the bugs pursue? You've seen them in action, sir." Cody said, "We can't kill them." Esinon glanced upward, following the pillars,

"Those don't look stable, a few well-placed shots will bring the whole place down. We'll bury them. It'll slow them down." Cody gave a nod before leaving to set up, while Esinon and Obi-Wan walked out into the open, the bugs stared at them but didn't react. The queen let out a loud shriek upon spotting the Jedi, "I really hope this plan works." she whispered,

"The queen wanted a Jedi, now she has two more." Obi-Wan said, "I want to know what she's after."

"Curiosity killed the loth cat." she murmured,

"These loth cats are going to land on their feet, we'll be fine," he reassured.

"I thought I told you not to follow me, Master Kenobi." Master Luminara said,

"Well, I decided to take a page from Anakin's book and not follow orders," Obi-Wan replied, Esinon stifled laughter, well, he wasn't wrong.

"You." the queen seethed, "You. You are the creatures that attacked Geonosia." She shook with rage, her raspy, high pitched voice echoing through the cavern. "Why have you come before me?"

"Your Majesty, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. I am Obi-Wan Kenobi, this is Esinon Windcaster. It is our sad duty to inform you, your rule is at an end." he said,

"You do not dictate to me Jedi." she hissed, "My empire is forever." And she meant that quite literally, with her hive mind thing, Esinon couldn't lie to herself, she was quite curious about how she controlled her warriors from beyond the grave.

"I'm afraid it does not appear that way, your grace. You shall release Jedi Master Luminara and submit to Republic law." He said, firmly, the queen let out an ear-piercing scream as she shook with rage.

"I no submit to you." she seethed, two of the Geonosian zombies jabbed blasters towards the Jedi. Esinon instinctively reached for her lightsaber in defense,

"Steady, steady," Obi-Wan said, placing a hand on her shoulder. The bugs snatched their lightsabers, "Majesty, killing us will only make the Republic's judgment of you harsher."

"No, Jedi, no! I no destroy you. I devour you."

"I like destroyed better," Esinon whispered, shakily,

"I had but one Jedi, before young Poggle bring me. Now, now I have three," she said, rubbing her hands together. "Now watch as my child enters your Jedi friend." The zombie came forward holding a small green egg and he handed it to Poggle. Poggle proceeded to pull a wriggling green worm out of the egg, moving it towards Luminara. "And once inside, her mind becomes my mind, her thoughts, my thoughts."

"It's some sort of mind control, a hive mind, she thinks she can possess us," Obi-Wan exclaimed,

"Great, find out everything you want to know yet?" she asked,

"No wait, I want to see how it works," he replied,

"I don't think Master Unduli wants to see how it works," she replied,

"No, I don't," Luminara called,

"I'm curious, the more we know the better," he said,

"Master, what about the loth cat!" Esinon whisper-shouted,

"Master Kenobi…" Luminara said, a hint of panic creeping into her voice as she struggled to get away from the wriggling worm creeping closer to her face,

"Master," Esinon whispered, more urgency entering her tone,

"Come now, the nose or the ear, where do you think it will enter?" Esinon sighed, deciding to play along with his game.

"I think the nose," she conceded, Poggle finally placed the worm on Luminara's face,

"Ugh, I really hope this is part of the plan." Master Luminara said, wrinkling her nose from the slimy creature.

"Isn't it always? Cody now!" the troopers in orange ran out from their hiding places, flicking on their lamps. The Geonosian queen shrieked in pain, shielding her eyes. She called her lightsaber into her hand, along with Luminara's lightsaber, wielding a blue and green saber, she spun into action slashing through the two zombies in front of her. She jumped up slashing the restraints from Master Unduli, passing her her lightsaber. Esinon spotted Poggle attempting to escape in the fray of blaster fire,

"Oh no you don't!" she rushed over, snapping handcuffs over his hands, "You're coming with us." She ran forward, dragging the Geonosian forward, she spotted a worm wriggling in her Master's hand, "Master look out!" she smacked it out of his hand,

"No, no, no, wait," before she could register what he was saying, she had stomped the parasite out of existence.

"Esinon! I was going to study that!" Obi-Wan shouted, but she was already sprinting after Cody with Luminara on her tail,

"Study the bottom of my boot! Let's go!" she shouted, she shoved Poggle through a tunnel,

"Shoot the supports!" Cody shouted the sound of blasters filled the arena and crumbling rock. They sprinted back towards the exit,

"They're still coming!" They soon arrived at a small opening in the ceiling,

"There, that's our way out," Luminara said, pointing upward,

"Let's start climbing," Esinon said, as Luminara leapt up into the tunnel, Esinon followed, pulling her body upward, as they plastered themselves to the wall as more rocks fell threatening to crush them. "Cody! Come on!" she shouted, the Captain still trying to fight off the undead warriors below.

"Obi-Wan look out!" Luminara shouted, as more rocks came crumbling down, narrowly missing his head. The rocks came crumbling down more quickly as it crushed the Geonosians below, a loud rumbling sounded from beneath them as a large forceful cloud of dust rushed towards them. The sheer power of the temple collapsing blew all of them out and upward, Esinon landed on her feet, the whole temple was about to come down upon them. She ran grabbing a trooper just before a rock crushed him as they sprinted ou, she skidded to a halt watching the rest of the old building collapse.

"All things considered," she coughed, shaking some of the sand from her head, "That went better than I expected."

"I wish I could have gotten one of those worms, knowing how the queen controls her minions could have proven valuable." Obi-Wan grumped,

"Well, hopefully, the secret is buried with her, "

**Anyone love Uno as much as me? He's so sweet, the poor thing doesn't deserve Krell. You'll be seeing more of Uno later on, so don't worry, I won't leave him to Krell's abuses forever.**

**AGAIN I WOULD LOVE TO SAY THANK YOU TO DAVE FILONI AND THE CLONE WARS TEAM FOR MAKING ME CRY THIS MUCH. **

**Next, up on let's make this canon corner: Waxer and Boil aren't actually batchmates. Waxer got severely injured and Boil dragged him back to the medical bay after that Boil just kinda watched Waxer making sure he was ok, and then became good friends after that. **

**Thank you for reading! Make sure to leave a review! **


	16. Brain Invaders

**A few minutes later…**

Ahsoka and Barriss exited the small shuttle, along with Anakin,

"Barriss! Ahsoka!" Esinon greeted running over to see her friends, the two girls took in the sight of their dusty friend,

"I haven't seen you this dirty-" Ahsoka began, with a sly grin on her face.

"We're not playing that game," Esinon said quickly, Ahsoka meant the prank the tornado trio had recently pulled on Rex, which may or may not have severely depleted the 501st's paint supply. Krell exited the shuttle as two troopers pushed Poggle onto it, where the Separatist would be transported to face trial for his war crimes.

"I'm afraid we have a complication," he said,

"Don't we always?" Obi-Wan said, with a sigh,

"I've just received a distress signal from our forces on Dantooine. Master Windu's defenses held, but at a great cost to his men. They need medical supplies immediately. We can obtain these supplies at the medical near Ord Cestus." Krell informed them,

"We're delivering Poggle to Coruscant, and Ord Cestus isn't exactly on the way," Anakin said,

"The Republic must begin debriefing Poggle right away if we are to get useful intelligence from him," Luminara said,

"Master, I suggest we let our padawans handle the supply mission," Anakin said, gathering the three girls together, placing a hand on Ahsoka's shoulder and Barriss's shoulder, squishing Esinon in the middle.

"Whatever needs to be done Master, I'm ready to help," Esinon said, happily,

"As am I," Barriss said,

"Me too," Ahsoka said,

"Very well, take a medical frigate. After we've delivered Poggle to Coruscant, we'll rendezvous with you for the voyage to Dantooine." Obi-Wan said the three of them nodded eagerly at the thought of their own mission.

**Twenty minutes later…**

Ahsoka, Barriss, and Esinon loaded up the medical frigate, getting settled for the journey that lay ahead.

"I'm gonna go get cleaned up, so I'm not tracking sand all over the ship," Esinon said,

"Alright, we'll make sure everything is set with the crew," Barriss said,

"Yes, me and dependable Barriss will take care of everything." Ahsoka teased,

"Oh Soka, when will you grow up?" Esinon asked, with a sarcastic sigh,

"I'm already all grown up," she said, turning on her heel and walking with her signature Ahsoka swagger. Barriss rolled her eyes,

"I don't know how you ever survived without me," she said, folding her hands neatly in front of her before following after Ahsoka. Esinon laughed to herself as she made her way for the fresher, to finally get all of this sand out of her hair.

**A few hours later…**

Esinon returned to the three's quarters to see Barriss and Ahsoka both absent from them, they must have gotten hungry, she herself was tired after the whole ordeal with Queen Karina, and she had mowed a granola bar earlier. She dressed in her robes before climbing into a top bunk and closing her eyes for some much-needed rest.

* * *

She looked around, she was back in the dense forest from earlier. Her eyes shifted along the smoking remains of the campsite. She wrung her hands nervously trying to decide what to do next. She could follow that man… or she could stay here. She heard a few screams and shouts from behind her, nope, not safe to stay here. She followed the broken branches of bushes where the man would have walked, soon a Jedi issued ship came into view. She quietly crept on board, slinking down the hallways she paused staring at her injured master through the medbay window. She shook her head,

"It's only a dream," she whispered, forcing herself to keep moving along the hallways. She finally made it to the cockpit where the man was sitting, he turned around sensing her upon entering,

"So you came after all."

"I want answers," she said, standing in the doorway. He motioned for her to sit, and she tentatively obeyed, for some reason, she felt safe here, with this man, whoever he was.

"In time child, in time," he said, turning his attention back to the forest outside.

"Who are you?" she asked,

"Who are you?" he asked, "Because you have been following me for some time."

"It's usually you who is dragging me along." she huffed,

"Yet you are convinced that I am just a figment of your subconscious," he replied,

"Because you are, this isn't real." she motioned to the ship around her, "I can wake up anytime I want because this is a dream."

"Are you sure?" he asked,

"Who are you?" she shot back,

"I'm whoever you want me to be, I am only a mirage," he said, settling into his seat.

"You seem to already know everything about me, so it's only fair I get to know something about you," she said,

"Why don't you just call me Master," he said, "You are a padawan are you not?"

"Fine Master, you can call me… little one," she said, not keen on revealing her name until he revealed his.

"Alright little one, I'll let you think about who you want me to be for a minute."

"I don't want to think, I just want you to answer my questions that I've already asked," she said, standing up,

"Patience little one, all will be revealed in time." she slumped back in her seat in an angry huff, as she stared out the window. Maybe if she was patient… maybe if she was calm… maybe if she just breathed.

* * *

Tap, tap, tap, Esinon opened her eyes, blinking the sleep from them as she heard another knock at her door. Had Barriss and Ahsoka gotten locked out? No, the only people who would be knocking would be troopers. She rolled off the bed as the knock came again,

"Coming," she called, she pressed the button and the door whooshed open, Havoc was standing in the doorway, gripping his blaster. "Hi Havoc, is there something you need?" He just stared at her, "Are you alright…" without any warning, he whipped out his blaster, taking a few shots, Esinon immediately shot into speedster mode, dodging them easily, she ignited her lightsaber, launching herself at Havoc, tackling him to the ground, wrestling for the blaster in his hand, she reeled back, landing a decisive punch to his face, knocking him out. She pushed herself up, why would Havoc attack her? She heard more footsteps thundering around the corner, she whipped around, where Trap found himself on the wrong end of a lightsaber.

"What are you doing?" he asked in shock, holding his hands up.

"Havoc just attacked me." she growled, tightening her defensive stance, "What is going on?"

"I couldn't tell you, Commander," he replied, still staring at the blur blade that was inches from his neck. "I'm just as confused as you…"

"You're responsible for Havoc, did you order him to attack me?"

"No, sir. I did not. I would never." he replied, "I heard shots,"

"Why should I believe you?" he paused,

"Look, no weapons." he slowly lowered his blaster to the floor while Esinon kept her blade trained on him. He rose back up, she used the force to shove the blaster down the hallway and replaced her saber back on her belt.

"Havoc wouldn't attack me for no reason," she muttered, turning back to look at the unconscious trooper, "My Master did have a trooper betray him once… this could be the same case… but I don't think it's that simple. There's something off about him, the blank stare,"

"Excuse me sir, but we should make sure that we're still in control of the bridge." Trap said, she nodded,

"Bridge, this is Esinon, respond please." Static. "Bridge, respond." Nothing. "I need to find Barriss and Ahsoka, see if the same thing happened to them. You check on the bridge." he nodded before running off. She turned her attention back to Havoc, he wasn't gonna stay passed out much longer, she grabbed the back of his collar dragging him into her quarters, taking off her tabards and binding his wrists behind his back. She flipped up Ahsoka's mattress and pulled out a DC-17 that was strapped to the inside of it, "Let's go to work."

* * *

Red security shields appeared in front of the two girls, preventing their entrance into the bridge.

"Someone doesn't want us getting in there," Ahsoka said, Barriss knelt in front of the control panel,

"I can try to override the controls, but it'll take a few minute-" Pulsar turned his blaster against them, firing a few shots at the Jedi, Barriss gracefully deflected the shots, she slashed through his blaster, and Pulsar threw himself on top of her, as Barriss struggled against him. A wriggling green worm flew out of his mouth, reaching for Barriss, leaping onto her face, a pair of legs swung down from the ceiling, kicking Pulsar off of her, the figure quickly fired a stun blast, sending the trooper to his knees. Barriss threw the worm off of her face, Ahsoka quickly slicing it half, they looked up to see Esinon blowing smoke off the end of a DC-17.

"Esinon?" they asked in unison,

"Where did you get a blaster?" Ahsoka asked,

"Check under your beds' ladies," she said, shaking it slightly, Barriss turned her attention back to the worm, probing it slightly with her finger,

"What is that thing?" Ahsoka asked in disgust, Esinon froze, she knew that worm.

"It's the Geonosian parasite… the one that the queen tried to possess us with. They connect back to the queen's mind, it's mind control."

"Mind control. That explains a lot. How did these things get on board? I thought you destroyed them all when the temple collapsed." Ahsoka said,

"I thought so too, but apparently not. They must have infected the clones on Geonosis."

"We have to quarantine the ship." Barriss decided,

"We should also contact Master Fisto, we shouldn't bring these worms anywhere near anyone else until we figure out how to stop them," Esinon said,

"Let's go," the trio took off down the hallway, towards the supply room, as they neared it a faint clicking could be heard,

"That sounds…" Esinon whispered,

"Geonosian." Ahsoka snarled, the three of them peeked around the door to get a look inside, rows of troopers filled the area, as they click and screeched in Geonosian. Esinon looked closer to see a trooper being restrained, and a worm placed on his face, "We have to help him." the worm took no time to crawl inside his nose, after a few seconds of struggling and cracking, the trooper fell in line with the other zombies the same blank stare marking his amber eyes.

"It's too late," Esinon whispered, blaster fire rained down upon them from behind, the three Jedi deflecting the blows, which attracted the attention of every trooper in the room behind them. Ahsoka used the force to close the door, putting the blaster fire away from them, but putting them in front of a whole bunch of possessed troopers. One of them came forward holding three eggs, Esinon used the force to call them forward, the three Jedi quickly slashing through the slimy eggs. A barrage of blaster blots was released upon them, and the blaster whooshed back open, they were pinned on both sides. She looked up to see a ventilation duct, that was their ticket out, she ducked away from another blast, jumping behind some boxes, Barriss and Ahsoka joining her. "We have to make for that vent," They all leapt into the air over crates and boxes, making up to the catwalk, they ducked through laser fire as Barriss used the force to rip the grate open. All three dove into the shaft and started crawling, they paused at another opening while two more troopers rushed past.

"Ahsoka and I will go to the reactor room and disable the thrusters, Esinon you go to the aft com- center and send a warning to Master Fisto." Barriss instructed, "We have to stop the ship from reaching the medical station."As soon as the coast was clear they kept crawling,

"I don't know Barriss, I don't think splitting up is the best idea," Ahsoka said,

"I don't think it is either, but it's the only choice we have." Esinon said, "Plus I'm fastest, I'll be able to get into the com-center before the troopers can even blink a possessed eye."

"One of us has to succeed." Barriss said, "And Esinon if it comes to it… you'll do what needs to be done. I'm sure of it."

"Of course," she replied, a little unsure of herself, despite trying to reassure Ahsoka. "May the force be with us." They all nodded before crawling off in their separate directions to complete their missions.

**A few minutes later…**

"As long as these things are on board, we dare not dock with the medical station," Esinon explained, luckily for her, the com-center was empty when she arrived, and she was easily able to make contact.

"You must bring the ship in. The only way we can stop these parasites is to analyze them." Master Fisto said,

"You don't understand how terrible these things are. What if they get loose?"

"We will take precautions,"

"I have a bad feeling about this, Master Fisto." she said, worriedly, "But I will follow your instructions."

"Everything will be alright yon kri tas, I promise," he said, she nodded before hanging up and heaving herself back up into the ventilation system. After a while of crawling, she settled on a spot where she could see troopers passing beneath, but they couldn't see her. She was getting nervous, to be honest, she hadn't heard from Barriss or Ahsoka in while. What if they had gotten caught? She shook her head, banishing the anxious thought.

"They're fine," she murmured, she paused thinking, if the ship was taken over, no had contacted the _Resolute, _maybe Obi-Wan would know how to help her defeat the worms, he had been there after all. She crawled towards the commander center, dropping down, empty again. She pressed a few buttons, all the signals were jammed. "Srapa," After a few minutes of hotwiring, the light flashed green,

"Cargo ship TB-73, this is clone Captain Rex, respond." Esinon sighed in relief at the sight of the 501st captain.

"Rex, this is Esinon. Boy am I glad to see you,"

"Likewise sir, I've got someone here who wants to speak with you," he said, stepping aside, with Anakin coming into view.

"Esinon, what's going on? Are you ok? Where's Ahsoka?"

"I don't know, not exactly, and I'm not sure." she said, answering all three questions, "Basically, there are these green worms from Geonosis that have infected the ship controlling the clones' minds. Barriss, Ahsoka, and I split up, they went to shut down the thrusters, since we lost control of the bridge."

"Make sure you have a wrist com, keep it on," he instructed, as she attached one to her gauntlet. "I'm going to interrogate Poggle, he'll have some answers. Try to find Barriss and Ahsoka, it's better if you stick together from now on." She nodded, the transmission cutting out, she whipped her head around at the slight rustle of clothing, it was only Ahsoka.

"Soka, you're back! Where's Barriss? Were you successful?" Ahsoka just stared at her blank-faced, studying the young padawan, "Ahsoka… what's wrong?" The togruta waved her hand slightly, "Ahsoka no!" The glass map projector shattered, sending sharp daggers of glass towards Esinon. "Ahsoka! Snap out of it! I'm your friend!" Ahsoka ignited her lightsaber, lunging towards her, snapping her saber down harshly, Esinon's foot slipped slightly as she tried to hold defense against her friend. They parried and attacked, moving swiftly across the room, Esinon pressed Ahsoka's saber down, "Ahsoka! It's not you! It's the worms, fight them!" This distracted Ahsoka long enough for Esinon to land a kick to her chest, and make a hasty escape. She sprinted down the hallways, with Ahsoka close on her tail, she didn't have enough time to focus her speed at the moment, she felt her feet go out from underneath her as Ahsoka used the force to shove her into a wall.

The elder padawan, slammed her saber down, hard. Esinon barely blocked it as the glowing blades crept closer to her face, she managed to kick Ahsoka's hands, giving her enough time to somersault out of the way. Ahsoka continued to lunge and attack as Esinon dodged various blows, trying her best not to attack Ahsoka. She waited until she got close enough and swept her legs under Ahsoka's feet, knocking her to her feet, and making a mad dash for safety, she leapt up into the first ventilation duct she found, and just in time, because Ahsoka came running under it seconds later. She needed to keep moving, she crawled down the shaft until her comlink buzzed,

"Windcaster,"

"Esinon, listen to me. The worms are affected by the cold." Anakin said, from the other end of the line,

"Cold? That's how we stop them?" she asked, it felt almost too simple,

"Rupture the coolant syste-" she slammed her hand over the comlink as a trooper passed underneath the grate, a few seconds later he disappeared, "Did you hear me? Rupture the coolant system!"

"Rupture the coolant system, got it," she removed the grate, checking for any hostiles before dropping down and sprinting towards the coolant system.

**A few minutes later…**

A few flicks and pulls of levers and buttons later, a hissing sounded as cold air flooded the room, sending a chill over her body as she hugged her arms around her body, she felt the ship lurch slightly, they were coming out of hyperspace. She needed to get to the bridge, she sprinted through the smoke-filled hallways, shivering violently from the ever dropping temperature. She skidded to a halt at a fork in the hallway, her mind moving at a mile a minute, she couldn't remember how to get to the control room.

"There you are," Ahsoka hissed,

"You can't hide from us," Barriss added, Esinon leapt up into a ventilation duct narrowly escaping, after a few minutes of crawling and shivering violently, everything in her body was starting to go numb, she could barely feel her fingers. She pushed up a grate, looking around to see if Ahsoka or Barriss were around, when the coast was clear, she crawled out, entering the bridge. She did her best to try and get her hands to hold still long enough for her to open a channel to Master Fisto.

"We're coming in awfully fast, this is Esinon Windcaster, can anyone hear me? I'm shutting down the engines, I'll try to reverse the-"

"Hah!" Barriss smashed her saber down over the controls, the ship lurched, and Esinon jumped out of her seat, pipes collapsing from the ceiling, flooding the room with even more smoke. Esinon whipped out her saber, narrowly ducking a swing from Ahsoka who was behind her, she jumped up, swinging on one of the pipes, kicking Barriss, sending her crashing into the wall, unconscious. Ahsoka took an angry swing with her lightsaber, Esinon caught her arm just in time, throwing her into a control panel, she grabbed a pipe that was still spewing cold air, and thrust it into Ahsoka's face, she let out a weak cry before collapsing. Esinon plopped to her feet in exhaustion, her whole body shaking as her breath fogged in front of her.

"Kill me… please." Ahsoka begged weakly,

"I can't," she choked, frantic beeping filled the room, Esinon dragged herself upward, collapsing against the control panel, they weren't slowing down, and the medical center was closing in fast. She heard a low hiss from behind her and whipped around to see Ahsoka lunging for her neck, her hands landed on Esinon's face as a wriggling green worm reached for her from Ahsoka's mouth, she socked her right in the face, before landing a kick to her chest. Ahsoka collapsed to her knees under a fresh stream of cold smoke, the worm writhing out of her mouth, her hands shaking, Esinon ignited her lightsaber, slashing the worm in half. She caught Ahsoka before she hit the floor, she grabbed Barriss pulling the two of them close, as they shivered in the freezing ship.

* * *

The blast door to the bridge whooshed open, Master Fisto took in the scene, two dead worms lay a few feet away from the three padawans who were curled up together, Esinon clutching both of them close. He knelt down, gently turning Esinon's face up,

"H-hello Master F-Fisto. We're ready to p-pick up the s-supplies," she whispered, weakly,

"We'll take care of that, rest now yon kri tas," he said, she nodded before closing her eyes again.

**A few hours later…**

Esinon blinked a couple of times, everything was white and shiny, where was she? Everything from the past few hours came rushing back, she lurched forward in bed, her eyes darting wildly around the room.

"It's alright Esinon, it's ok, you're safe now," Obi-Wan said, putting a hand on his padawan's shoulder, and easing her back in bed, and tucking the blanket,

"Barriss and Ahsoka?"

"Both are fine, thanks to your efforts." He glanced over at Ahsoka who was still asleep with Anakin not far from her side, and Barriss across the room. "So are the clones,"

"Were those the worms from Geonosis?" she asked,

"Yes, they were," Master Fisto said, entering the room with a grin, "We had the parasite worm analyzed, they are the same type of creature you found Geonosis."

"We'll have to inform the troops on Geonosis," Master Kenobi said, "This parasite might explain how they recaptured the planet in the first place. I'd rather not have that happen again."

"You've been through quite the ordeal yon kri tas," Master Fisto said, Esinon glanced downward, thinking,

"Master Kenobi, may I have a word in private?" she asked, he nodded, smiling softly, as Master Fisto left, "Master… on the ship, Ahsoka was gone… and she wanted me to kill her. She told me…"

"But you couldn't do it?"

"No, no I couldn't." she said, shame almost creeping in her voice, with uncertainty, "Should I have though? I mean it worked out now, but if we had failed, but if the ship docked, and the worms spread, and,"

"Esinon," Obi-Wan said, calling her attention from her anxious whirlwind of thoughts. "It's your duty to save as many lives as you can, Ahsoka knew that you could save thousands if the worms were destroyed which she thought meant destroying her too. But you did the right thing, you knew the freezing cold would kill the worms." Esinon turned her head to look at Ahsoka who was still peacefully sleeping, "Letting go of our attachments is a difficult struggle for all of us. You trusted your instincts. I'm sure she would agree you made the right decision. Get some rest," he said, patting her shoulder before going to check on Anakin.

**One week later…**

Blaster fire echoed through the firing range as Esinon lowered her blaster, the target came rushing forward, most of them hitting the center.

"You're getting better," Echo praised,

"After the whole brain invaders thing, it's better that you get some blaster experience. What happens when you lose your lightsaber?" Fives asked,

"We rely on the force Fives, and we can call our sabers. You know that right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I've seen General Skywalker and Commander Tano do it plenty of times," he said, Echo reached for the DC-17 in her hand, checking the blaster over,

"Fives is just grumpy because we've been stuck here for a few rotations and nothing to do," he said,

"We stormed Geonosis not even two weeks ago, you'd think that would be enough action for a lifetime. I'm filled for a while," she said, as Echo passed her the pistol again.

"I didn't become an ARC trooper just to sit around," he grumbled,

"Better start acting like one," Esinon teased, Fives shot out of his chair,

"Are we playing like that?"

"Oh yes we are," she said, getting a smug grin on her face, he ran forward, grabbing her and throwing her over his shoulder.

"Who's the champion now?"

"Still me," she giggled, she managed to wriggle her way to sitting on his shoulders, "See? Winner."

"I think I'll let Echo be the judge of that," Fives huffed,

"Oh no, I'm not getting in between you two," he said, with a smile, Esinon's comlink buzzed,

"Windcaster here,"

"Padawan Windcaster, I need to speak to you. Please come to my office." the chancellor's voice said, her heart skipped a beat, what in the world was the chancellor doing calling her?

"Yes your excellency, I'll be there in a flash," she said,

"Why would the chancellor call?" Echo asked,

"I dunno, but I'm about to find out," she replied, dismounting from Fives's shoulders and running to the Senate building, she brushed off her robes and smoothed her hair before entering the Chancellor's office. The chancellor stood up greeting her,

"Hello Padawan Windcaster, I'm glad you could come."

"Of course Chancellor, is something wrong?" she asked politely,

"On the contrary, as you may have heard. Senator Clovis has betrayed the Republic,"

"Yes Chancellor, I recently returned from my mission on Geonosis," she said,

"I'm glad to see you have made the full recovery of your scuffle with those parasites. But now back to Senator Clovis, since you have such ties to Scipio. I thought it was only right if you meet the new Senators, they are people you may know." a man and a woman walked out, she recognized them,

"Hello Esinon," it was her parents, she just froze, she was unable to speak, her heart pounding in her chest, it felt like her head was going to explode, her vision became blurred. She needed out, she needed out, the walls felt they were closing in around her, her fingers were tingling, but it felt like her feet were glued to the ground.

"Esinon, are you alright?" her father asked,

"I can't…" she choked, getting some words out, she used her speed to run out of the room and down the senate hallway, she stumbled over herself. She crumpled to the ground, about to cry, she bit her lip, holding her head in her hands. She felt a gentle hand rest on her shoulder,

"Esinon, are you alright?" the kind Senator Amidala asked the young padawan. Esinon shook her head, "Ok, let's go to my office and you can tell me about it." Padme helped Esinon up and they walked to her office, Padme sat the padawan down on the couch, "Do you want me to call Master Kenobi?"

"He's not here right now, he's out on a mission," she said, her breathing still quick and light.

"I'll call Anakin, he'll know how to help." Esinon nodded, pulling her knees to her chest, Padme pulled her transmitter out of a drawer in her desk, pressing a button calling Anakin,

"Hello beau-" Padme cleared her throat, she turned the transmitter so he could see Esinon. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know, I found her like this in the hallway," Padme said, glancing over at Esinon. Anakin's face fell,

"Oh no, I'll be over in a few minutes." Anakin hurriedly hung up,

"Goodbye," Padme mumbled to herself, soon Anakin came into the room.

"Speedy," he immediately went over to the young girl,

"Master Skywalker?" Esinon's breathing slowed seeing the older Jedi,

"Are you ok?" he asked, rubbing her shoulder, sending a soothing force wave over her.

"I don't know," she mumbled,

"Well it's ok now, I'm here."

"Anakin, what happened?" Padme asked, sitting down on the other side of Esinon.

"Esinon's parents are the replacement for Senator Clovis. And Esinon has a rough past with her parents, either me or Obi-Wan was supposed to be with her when it happened. It's evident the Chancellor didn't listen." Anakin said frustratedly, Esinon stood up,

"I think I'm ok now, but why would the Chancellor do that without the council's permission?"

"He told us during the council meeting, it was better to rip the bacta bandage off. He was determined to have you see them alone for some reason." Anakin said, thinking about his mentor, wondering why he wouldn't listen to the council.

"Maybe-" Padme was interrupted by a knock at the door, Esinon perked up.

"It's them, my parents," she said, sensing her blood through the door.

"Do you want-" Anakin began, Esinon shook her head.

"In the closet, you go Speedy," Anakin said, pushing the young padawan into Padme's closet. Normally he would make Esinon face this, but he could tell that she had just had an anxiety attack, and two in a row probably wasn't a good idea for the thirteen-year-old. He closed the door standing next to Padme, she opened the door to her office and the Windcaster's stepping in. Anakin noted the extremely pregnant belly Esinon's mother was sporting, she looked like she was due in a few months.

"Senator Amidala, we're so sorry to interrupt." Esinon's mother said,

"You weren't interrupting Senator Windcaster. General Skywalker and I were just discussing some details of the war." Padme replied calmly,

"We were wondering if you had seen our daughter, someone said she came this way. She's a Jedi padawan, Scipian markings," Esinon's father quickly described,

"No, I haven't seen her," Padme replied,

"General Skywalker?"

"I'm sure that the young padawan is back at the temple," Anakin said,

"Oh, well Master Jedi, if you see her make sure to tell her, we wish to talk to her." Mrs. Windcaster said,

"Of course," the two left the room. Esinon came out of the closet,

"Thank you, both of you," she said, smiling gratefully.

"Anytime, Speedy. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to have a chat with the chancellor." Anakin said walking out of the room,

"You may stay as long as you like Esinon," Padme said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you, Senator Amidala,"

"Please, call me Padme."

**A few hours later…**

Back and forth, back and forth, Esinon and Echo watched Fives pace the room, a few grunts and muttered words escaped his lips every once and while. She had just told them everything that had just happened with the Chancellor, and her parents.

"I can't- they- I-" Fives growled,

"Fives, take a deep breath," Echo tried,

"I don't feel like it,"

"Fives, I'm fine I promise," Esinon said, trying to make a reach for her friend's arm, he pulled away,

"You didn't seem fine," he argued, she had explained about the anxiety attack too,

"It was the initial shock, I wasn't prepared to walk in on my parents," she said, Fives continued to pace,

"That's not fair. They can't just show up, and act like everything's fine! They abandoned you to Ewoks! I don't have any parents but that feels irresponsible." Fives shouted,

"Fives, sit down," Esinon commanded, he finally conceded, flopping down on the couch next to them. "I know you're mad at my parents, and I'm mad at them too, but nothing's gonna change them being here, or the fact that they want to ignore abandoning me. I have a good life here, with the Jedi, and with you two. My parents coming back isn't gonna ruin that."

"Well when you put it like that," Fives said, she pulled them both in for a half hug.

"Even if my parents are terrible at being parents, I wouldn't trade any of what I have."

* * *

**ESINON'S PARENTS ARE BACK. **

**Me: this is crazy**

**Also me: Dude, why are you surprised by this? You're the one who wrote it? **

**Me: oh yeah.. anywho **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: Padme likes puzzles, and definitely has some framed in her office. Anakin does not have the patience to help her construct said puzzles, but Bail Organa does. That's what they do, they build puzzles and talk politics. **

**Thank you for reading! Make sure to leave a review! Love you all! **


	17. The Deserter

**Ok, one quick thing before we dive in. I'm unbelievably excited to post this chapter, I've had it written since like March and I've been waiting a very long time to post it, so I really hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

**A few weeks later, Sarrish...**

Pain. That was all she could feel. White-hot agony spread through her body like a forest fire, she couldn't move, and she was barely breathing as her chest raggedly rose and fell, each breath a fight. She racked her pounding brain for what happened. Sarrish… she had been put on a separate gunship… taking charge of Foxtrot, minus Gregor. He went on assignment with Cody... their gunship had been shot down. She willed herself to open her eyes, slowly she was able to blink them open, staring upward, this didn't look like a crashed gunship. Instead, she was met with stalactites, a cave? Who moved her? Where was Foxtrot? She slowly turned her head, despite its screams of protest, she could see the blurry outline of Zee, Blackout, Apex, and Alpha, she blinked a couple of times trying to get her vision to focus up. They were chained to the wall, she wasn't restrained far as she could tell, not that whoever captured her probably didn't need to, she couldn't move as it was from all the pain, and injuries she had probably sustained during the crash. They had been captured, but by who? She heard the sound of footsteps against the ground, she craned her neck as best she could from her awkward position on the floor.

"Are you sure we should be messing with Jedi?" a gruff one asked,

"It's only a little one, and these clones won't be an issue." a slick voice replied,

"Yeah, but a bigger one usually comes along looking for it."

"The battle was hours ago. If they haven't come looking, they aren't coming back at all." Esinon managed to catch a glimpse of them, the first one was a man, with a large beard, and a ponytail on his head, the second was a pale blue chiss, with glowing red eyes. He flicked a finger at Zee, "That one, he's a medic. Have him tend to the Jedi. We want her well enough to answer our questions." A devilish grin was spreading over the chiss's face as the gruff one unchained Zee, tossing his medical kit down. "We'll have what we want soon enough, and it'll make us rich."

* * *

As soon as Zee's hands hit the ground, he was at his commander's side, he had been watching her helplessly for the past hour. He woke up after the gunship crash, but not inside in the gunship, they had all gotten captured by bounty hunters. These bounty hunters were smart, at least the chiss was, the man was more just brunt strength. They had easily picked out among them who held the highest rank, and who they could get the most information out of when it came to that.

"Commander, Commander, can you hear me?"

"Zee… what happened?" she asked weakly,

"Bounty hunters, probably looking for information they can sell to the seps," he said in a hushed tone, he gently rolled her to her back, causing a few pained cries from the fourteen-year-old. "It's alright, it's alright." He was just happy she was still alive, far as he could tell it was out of pure stubbornness and force of will that she hadn't bled out. Well, she was certainly taking after Kenobi, and Skywalker as well, she was reckless and stubborn, a bad combo in his opinion. He gently tugged up her tunic, a large gash was spanning her side, the way the skin was sliced, and the way it bulged slightly, that looked like there was definitely shrapnel stuck in there. "Commander, this is gonna hurt,"

"Just do it," She murmured, he gently pried the wound open, Esinon screamed out in pain, weakly trying to fight against him.

"I know, I'm almost done, just hold on a little longer," he murmured, he wasn't surprised when a glinting piece of metal smiled it's evil little grin up at him, from the comfy little home it had made in Esinon's flesh. He glowered down at it, unfortunately, he didn't have the proper equipment to remove it, and the best thing he could do was staunch the bleeding. He found a host of other injuries aside from the gash in her side, couple broken ribs, fracture in her wrist, and a lot of internal bleeding which wasn't good for anyone. Luckily Foxtrot had made it out of the crash without any serious injuries, probably thanks to their commando armor. Why didn't Jedi wear more armor? The extent of armor that the commander was wearing was a chest plate, shoulder pauldrons, and gauntlets, they know that they aren't invincible right? Zee sighed as he finished patching his Commander back together, trying his best to soothe her panicked and pained cries for him to stop. "All done," She panted tiredly,

"Thank you," she murmured,

"Try and rest, we want you alive when we get out of here." She nodded, closing her eyes, the bounty hunters soon returned, the gruff one roughly grabbing Zee and re-chaining him, despite his struggle. The chiss stood over Esinon, she opened her eyes looking up at him, a snarl forming on her face. He roughly grabbed her arm, wrenching her upward, sharp pain ripped through her body, she gritted her teeth not wanting to give him the satisfaction of her tears. He turned her face back and forth looking her over.

"Hmm, young." he said, "The padawans do seem to be getting younger and younger these days." He tossed her into the wall, she groaned, her arms shaking as she tried to push herself up, but failed, collapsing back to the ground. "Take that one," He motioned towards Alpha,

"No," She whispered weakly, reaching out a hand towards the trooper, he shook his head as the gruff one dragged him off. Blackout and Apex screamed abuse as the bounty hunters beat Alpha mercilessly, and as much as Esinon tried to shove herself to her feet, to save him, to do anything, she couldn't, she could only watch helplessly. After a few hours, Alpha stopped screaming. That night consisted of Blackout and Apex growling threats as the bounty hunters slept, as Esinon laid on the floor, silent tears streaming down her face. There was nothing she could do, and she hated it, she was exhausted, in pain, and just wanted to do anything, anything to save the rest of them from this hell. She closed her eyes,

_If the force is listening, if anyone is listening, please send someone to help us. _She silently prayed, the next morning they took Blackout, he lasted longer than Alpha, the bounty hunter's learning from the previous day, also asking the questions to the prisoners they held, as they shattered Blackout to pieces. He died about the hour nine mark if she had to make a guess.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "This is my fault,"

"Stop Commander, this is not your fault," Apex argued, looking at his broken Commander, still on the floor. All of the bright hope disappearing from her brown eyes, instead fear, grief, and despair were what stared back at the two remaining troopers.

"I should have protected you, I'm a terrible Commander," she choked out, her face soaked in tears.

"Don't say that someone will come for us," Zee whispered, none of them believed him, but no one contradicted him. Esinon repeated her silent prayer, to anyone who was listening. Apex was next, and with every break of a bone, every scream that escaped his lips ripped Esinon's soul to shreds. She was still too weak to move and could only watch helplessly as they broke him. He lasted longer than Alpha, and Blackout. The days had started to melt together, and she didn't know how long she'd been stuck out here, she tried to take solace in Zee murmuring comforting words as he was allowed to tend her wounds again, but she knew that by this time tomorrow. She would be alone. Much to her surprise, the bounty hunters decided that one wasn't enough. The gruff one pulled her up into a kneeling position, next to Zee, they directed the first question at the commando, he stayed silent. The chiss drew a vibroblade placing it on Esinon's forehead, starting to draw downward, she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from crying out.

"CT- 7389. Zee, Foxtrot Group." he spat, they asked Esinon next,

"Jedi Commander Esinon Windcaster," she gasped, as the chiss drew the knife down further, marring her yellow Scipian markings with blood. Her pride and joy, desecrated. The gruff one pulled a blaster out, pressing it to Zee's temple, and fired. Zee collapsed dead next to her,

"No!" She screamed, lunging for the dead commando's body, she stopped mid-lunge, as the Chiss aimed his blade at her neck,

"Not so fast little lady, he didn't have any valuable information anyways, but you. You do," he growled, pressing the blade against her collarbone. Just as she thought her life was going to end, a blaster fired, a well-placed shot through the head and Chiss collapsed in front of her, the ponytail was next.

"Esinon!" a familiar voice cried, Obi-Wan caught his weak padawan as she fell, gathering her trembling form into his robes. As she inhaled deeply, she couldn't even find comfort in the familiar honey-lemon smell. All she could smell was blood. "It's alright, it's alright, it's over now, you're safe," he whispered, stroking her hair, as he pulled her closer, in a fatherly embrace. There wasn't a bone in her body that believed that lie. Instead, she just nodded, closing her eyes, and let herself be cradled, welcoming the darkness.

**A few hours later…**

"I couldn't save them," Esinon choked out through muffled sobs, Obi-Wan stroked her hair, as she curled into his side in the medbay.

"I know, shh, you're safe now. It's all over," he whispered, he didn't care who saw him like this with his padawan, because she needed him.

"It's m-my fault they're d-dead," she whispered, her sobs forming into soft whimpers.

"Rest padawan mine, just sleep," he said, sending a suggestion through their bond. She soon dozed off, clutching his robes, as if he would disappear at any second.

**One week after Esinon's rescue…**

Cleared for combat, after being in the medbay for almost a week, she was ready to get up and moving, but she didn't want to talk to anyone about what had happened in that cave. It still haunted her, the torturers returning in her nightmares, as she was forced to watch Zee, Blackout, Apex, and Alpha, slaughtered over and over again. They were around every corner, every shadow, every trooper who appeared too suddenly, they were everywhere and there was no escape. She had barely gotten any sleep without the help of sedatives, which she refused to take. Her eyes were sullen with exhaustion but she kept pushing anyway, in wartime, you didn't have time to grieve. Now they were headed for Salucemi, chasing after the elusive General Grievous. She was ready now, at least she hoped she was because she couldn't afford the luxury of freezing up.

"Esinon, are you coming?" Obi-Wan called, she nodded, using her speed to catch up with them as they exited the cruiser. Rex and Cody quickly caught up with them, she turned her head downward, when she noticed Rex eyeing the still-healing scar on her forehead, he probably knew about her capture on Sarrish, but probably not to the extent that others did, either way, she didn't want to think about it. "Instead of scattering our troops looking for all of the escape pods, we shall head towards the wreckage of the landing transport first." Both troopers nodded and left to debrief their squadrons.

**Twenty minutes later…**

The rock of tank was quite soothing actually, as she swayed back and forth scanning the horizon for the downed cruiser,

"General Kenobi!" Esinon flinched at the sudden increase in noise, her eyes shifting for signs of dangers, she took a steadying breath seeing it was only Rex on a speed below. "The cruiser has returned to orbit. Any sign of Grievous?"

"I believe we've found Grievous's ship."

* * *

"Thermal housing intake is still warm!" Cody called, "This couldn't have happened too long ago." Esinon surveyed the rest of the wreck, whoever was flying this ship, did a terrible job crashing it. She could do better, she had done better.

"The crew compartment's almost entirely destroyed," Rex said, walking over with Jesse on his tail.

"We'll split up into teams. Esinon," she turned her attention away from the crash to her Master, "You take Rex, Kix, Hardcase, and Jesse and go search those wetlands."

"You got it, Master," she said, giving him a mock salute before starting to make their way towards speeders.

"Cody, you Crys and I will pick it up from here, and Esinon, if you get a visual on Grievous, contact me first."

"Don't worry Master, I won't do anything too stupid." she joked, trying to cover up her exhaustion. The five of them hopped on speeders, revving the engines before taking off in a cloud of dust towards the wetlands. The hum of the speeders was soothing, it didn't take long for them to reach the wetlands, still no sign of Grievous, she was about to instruct the troopers on how to split up when a shot came out of nowhere, nailing Rex in the chest, he flew off his speeder, crashing into Esinon, taking her with him. She hit her head hard, she blinked her eyes a couple of times, trying to keep from passing out as her side screamed out in pain. Probably where that shrapnel had gotten stuck, it wasn't done healing yet.

"Rex," she muttered, trying to push the unconscious trooper off of her, she panicked for a second, no, no, no, not Rex, he couldn't be dead. "Rex, not you too, come on, wake up!" Kix skidded to halt, jumping off of his speeder. He carefully pushed Rex upward far enough for her to wiggle out, he gently pulled off Rex's helmet and ran his hand over the scorch in his armor.

"Jesse, you better get back here," Kix said, he glanced over at Esinon who was holding her throbbing head, "Commander, are you alright?"

"Fine, how's Rex?" Kix pulled off his helmet,

"It's bad, but he's alive, and I'm gonna keep him that way. Captain's too stubborn to die from some stupid commandos." Jesse and Hardcase were back in seconds,

"How bad?" Jesse asked,

"Pretty bad, I'd have to take his armor off to see the full extent of the damage," Kix replied,

"Those snipers probably called for backup, unless we want to start getting picked off one by one, I suggest we move," Hardcase remarked, scanning the horizon line for more droids. Esinon turned her head at the beckoning of the force, to see some eopie grazing next to them, not spooked in the slightest by the presence of the people.

"Those eopie look domesticated," she mumbled,

"Sir?" Kix asked,

"I think we're on farmland, and where there's a farm, there's a farmer. Let's find his homestead," she said, standing up and stumbling a little bit from a sudden dizzy spell, she blinked her eyes a couple of times, trying to get the two Jesse's in her eye line to merge back into one.

"Sir, are you alright?" he asked, holding out his hands tentatively to catch her if she fell,

"Yeah, I just hit my head hard when Rex ran into me," she said, as the two Jesse's shifted back together,

"Probably a concussion, I'll check you when we get to the homestead," Kix said, packing up his stuff.

**A few minutes later…**

It didn't take them long to find the homestead, they pulled up right alongside the house, the door burst open, a fiery magenta twi'lek aiming a sniper rifle right at Kix. He put his hands up in surrender, as Jesse pulled up in front of his brother, Esinon sitting on the back of his speeder,

"Easy with that weapon ma'am," Jesse pulled off his helmet, letting her get a good look at his face, she stared at him, like she knew him, "We're here as friends." She jabbed the sniper at his face,

"State your business."

"Our Captain and Commander have been hurt, we need-" Kix began,

"I'm no doctor," she shot back,

"We have a medic ma'am, we just need a place to tend them overnight," Jesse explained calmly, two twi'lek children came sprinting out, peeking through their mother's legs, staring at the newcomers,

"Mommy who's-"

"Get back inside, both of you," she instructed,

"Fine," they both grumbled before disappearing back inside the house, so that's why she was being so hostile.

"Look, there are some benches out back in the barn, it's the best I can do." She offered,

"That'll be fine, thank you," Esinon said, kindly, she nodded, before disappearing back inside the house.

**A few minutes later…**

Kix finished carefully pressing a bacta bandage over Rex's blaster wound, he grunted a couple of times as his eyes began to slowly open,

"What-what happened?" he groaned,

"Commando droids took a pod shot," Hardcase spat, his voice softened slightly, "that would have gone straight through your heart if it had been two inches to the left."

"I can't move my arm," Rex said, as he tried to sit up, Kix helped him,

"You have some nerve damage," Kix began,

"Understood," Rex interrupted, "Now patch me up and let's get on with it."

"Sir, you are in no condition, it'll heal, but it'll take time," Kix said, Rex panted, his face twisting in pain,

"We're getting underway Kix, that's an order."

"Sir, as the team medic, when it comes to the health of the men, including yours… I outrank everyone." he said, "Speaking of that, come here Commander," he patted another bench, noticing she had been clutching her side, which was still aching. Esinon wasn't exactly in the mood to argue, he waved his finger back and forth in front of her eyes, and asked her to count backward from ten, which she struggled slightly to do. He next checked under the bandages over her side, he ran his finger gently over the scarring tissue. "Looks a little aggravated, but you'll be fine. You've got a mild concussion." He produced a pill handing it to her, "Now take this, and go sit over there," He motioned to a pile of hay, she conceded, plopping in the hay and taking the pill. "Now Captain, I respectfully order you to-" They were interrupted by the twi'lek clearing her throat,

"Excuse me," She was standing in the doorway, holding a plate of fruit. "If there's no enough-" Jesse went over and retrieved it gratefully,

"This is fine, thank you…"

"Suu," she said, placing her hand on her hip. A ball came flying into the room, followed by the spunky twi'lek girl from earlier, "I told you to stay in the house."

"Sorry mom, it got away from me," she said, retrieving the ball from underneath the bench Rex was currently sitting on, as she rose she met his eyes. She stared at him with such curiosity,

"You look like my daddy," she said, all of them shared a confused look, before looking to Esinon for answers, she shrugged her shoulder's tiredly, trying to fight off sleep.

"Shaeeah, don't bother the soldiers. Now get inside the house with your brother." Suu said, shooing her daughter back towards their house.

"Yes mom," she grumbled before leaving,

"My husband is away, delivering our first harvest." Suu explained, "Is there anything else you require?"

"No, thank you Suu," Jesse replied, as soon as she left, Kix finished patching Rex up.

"What did you give her?" Hardcase asked, making a nod towards the sleeping Jedi, curled up in the hay.

"Painkiller, she fell asleep on her own. It looks like she hasn't slept in days, and besides, Grievous hunting with a concussion probably isn't a great idea." Kix replied, Jesse placed a blanket over the sleeping Commander, and put a blaster on the table next to Rex.

"Continue the search without us, Jesse, you're in charge, we'll be fine," Rex said, with a sigh, settling in for the night. The troopers left.

**A few hours later…**

Rex opened his eyes at the slight crunch of the hay, he assumed it was Esinon, but he could tell someone else was in the room. He closed his eyes feigning sleep, but slowly slid his hand down to the blaster at his side. He whipped over aiming the blaster at the figure, who easily disarmed the injured soldier with a spear. Rex backed up slightly holding a hand over his wound as the spear inched closer to him,

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" the figure finally stepped out into the light to reveal the familiar face of a clone.

"You're a clone," Rex growled, he was careful to keep his eyes on the clone, not letting them drift over to the sleeping Jedi, far as he could tell he hadn't noticed her yet, and Rex intended on keeping it that way.

"So…" he lowered the spear slightly, "the war finally made its way out here, so I guess I can expect a visit from some droids soon?" Rex pushed himself into a sitting position,

"What's your number and rank?"

"Heh. My name's Lawquane, Cut Lawquane, and I'm just a simple farmer."

"You're a deserter," Rex shot back, Cut held up his hands in a 'slow down' motion,

"Well, I like to think that I'm merely exercising my right to choose. To choose not to kill for a living," he walked over to a switch on the wall, flicking on the lights,

* * *

Esinon scrunched her face as the lights flooded the room, she opened her eyes seeing a figure, a ponytail… they had found her! She leapt up out of the hay, panicking seeing she was backed into a corner her whole body trembling, she was trapped, her breath quickened as the figure turned around, holding a sharp-looking object,

"Cut don't move," Rex hissed, the deserter froze as the fearful girl stared at him wide-eyed, pressing her hands against the barn walls, frantically looking for an exit. "Commander, Commander, look at me," her eyes darted to Rex, still wide with fear, "You're alright, you're safe, haalur, haalur," He was trying to keep the speedster from bolting, and disappearing halfway around the planet. The use of Mando' a seemed to calm her considerably, she shakily skirted around Cut and behind Rex, who put a comforting hand on her shoulder, he turned his attention away from Cut. "It's ok, he's not gonna hurt you," She gave a wary nod, before turning to look at Cut, a clone?

"What are you doing out here?" she asked,

"He's a deserter," Rex explained,

"Again, exercising my right to choose," Cut said, with a sigh,

"That's not your decision to make. You swore an oath to the Republic, you have a duty." Rex snapped,

"I have a duty, you're right. But it's to my family. Does that count, or are you still gonna turn me in?" he asked,

"Do I have a choice?" Rex growled,

"Daddy!" Shaeeah cried, "You're home!" She launched herself into her father's arms, the twi'lek boy doing the same, with Suu not far behind.

"Look what I drew you dad!" the boy exclaimed, holding up a piece of flimsi, Cut took the flimsi in his hand, smiling at it proudly.

"Well, well, well, that's great Jekk," he said, rubbing his son's head,

"I see you three have met," Suu said, motioning to Esinon and Rex,

"He looks just like you daddy, I told him that!" Shaeeah exclaimed,

"Ah, you did, huh?" So that explains that weird remark from earlier,

"I was just making our guests, Captain, uh… what's your number?"

"Rex, I also have a name. Believe it or not," Rex huffed,

"And Commander…"

"Esinon, Windcaster," she replied,

"They were injured, their men brought them here. I told them they could stay, just for the night." Suu explained,

"Course they can, we never turn away those in need do we?" Cut said, turning his attention back to his kids,

"No, we always help anyone we can," Jekk said,

"Right," Cut said, proudly, "You two look hungry,"

"No, we're fine, we'll stay here," Esinon said, still shaken by her first encounter with Cut,

"No, you have to eat with us!" Jekk exclaimed, tugging on her hand,

"Please?"

"Please?"

"Please?" the children chorused, making puppy eyes,

"They're never going to stop until you say yes," Cut said with a chuckle as his children continued to beg. Rex glanced at Esinon, who gave a slight nod,

"Alright, we'll join you,"

"YAY!" both of them cheered, Cut helped Rex off the bench, as Jekk and Shaeeah grabbed onto Esinon's hands pulling her towards the house, she looked back at Rex with a look of 'help me'

"I think you're on your own Commander," he said, with a smile, she shot him a joking glare before walking off with Jekk and Shaeeah.

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon was starting to get very anxious, with the three pairs of eyes that kept staring at the pinkish scar over her forehead, she really wished the Shaeeah, Jekk, and Cut would just look away because she couldn't get the pounding thought out of her head, _you killed them. _

"Yes, we may be clones, but we're still individuals," Cut said, tearing her away from her thoughts, her hands were shaking underneath the table, she took a deep breath, _I'm safe. _"You have a name rather than a number Captain, why is that?" Esinon could sense Rex's uncomfortableness, but the straight-faced soldier wasn't showing it.

"Perhaps our leaders feel it's a more efficient way of distinguishing us," Rex replied, he was right, it was.

"More efficient than a number?" Cut asked with a soft chuckle,

"Numbers aren't efficient." Esinon said, cutting into the conversation, drawing all eyes at the table to her, "Troopers who don't have names make my life difficult, I don't know Rex's number, he's just Rex. He always has been and always will be."

"I don't think the Kaminoans think that way," Cut passed her a plate of food, she took it gratefully, "Still, a name has to make you feel unique especially in an army of people who all look like you, and talk like you, and-"

"I haven't really thought about it," Rex interrupted,

"Yes, you have,"

"And how would you know?"

"Because I'm as close to you as any lifeform can get," Cut said, getting a few inches away from Rex's face, the two having a staredown. Cut finally backed away, setting a plate down in front of Rex, "I've seen how you look at my family, our home," Rex's eyes shifted between the two children in front of him, before glancing at Esinon who was ignoring the conversation, seemingly trapped in her own mind. "Come on Rex, admit it, you've thought about what your life could look like if you also left the army, choose the life you want."

"What if I am choosing the life I want? What if I'm staying in the army because it's meaningful to me?"

"And how is it meaningful?" Cut asked, tiredly, not seeing Rex's point,

"Because I'm part of the most pivotal moment in the history of the Republic, if we fail, our children and their children would be forced to live under an evil I can't well imagine." Esinon gave a nod of approval, backing Rex up,

"That's if you were to have children, of course, but that would be against the rules, wouldn't it? Isn't that what someone programmed you to believe Captain?" Esinon scowled at Cut and his harsh words towards Rex.

"No Cut, that's simply what I believe. It doesn't matter if it's my children or other people's children. Does that meet with your approval?" Rex said, with a bit of a harsh tone.

"Perfectly, to each his own. That's what I always say," Cut said, a new happy tone flooding his voice,

"What does that mean daddy?" Shaeeah asked,

"It means you can do anything with your life that you want to," he said, tapping her nose, a long silence fell over the table before Jekk spoke up, looking at Rex who was preoccupied with his meal.

"Are you her dad?" Jekk asked with childlike innocence, jabbing a thumb at Esinon, Rex nearly choked as she stifled laughter. It wasn't an unlikely assumption for Jekk to make since, the only clone he had ever seen was his father, and so he naturally assumed that when a clone shows up with a young girl, they're related,

"No, she's my CO," Rex replied quickly, his ears flashing bright red,

"Don't worry vod, I'll spare you from Fives," Esinon said, a large smile on her face. Rex looked over at her, she had never called him vod before. She had called Waxer, Boil, Fives, Echo, and Gregor vod since learning the Mando' a word but never him.

"What's a CO?" Shaeeah asked,

"It means commanding officer Shaeeah, Esinon is in charge of a lot of troopers, including Rex." Cut explained, he glanced at her scar again, she shifted her eyes back down at her plate, memories of Sarrish ripping through her mind, _You killed them. _She gripped her fork until she went white-knuckled, she took another deep breath, _I'm safe. _

"So what exactly brings you out to Saleucami?" Suu asked,

"A Separatist dreadnought crashed, we're searching for General Grievous," Rex explained, Cut let out a low whistle, a long silence fell over the table, Cut studied the young Jedi from across the table. Still curious about her freak out in the barn, what in the world could have triggered it? And where did she get that scar? It was a nasty one and still fresh, judging by the color he guessed it had been about a week since she had gotten it. She kept averting her eyes downward,

"Esinon, I hate to ask, but where did you go to get a scar like that?" Cut finally asked, her fingers clenched around her fork, her face washing to pale,

"I-I got caught between a couple of commandos… Sarrish," she said, through clenched teeth, he could tell it was a lie, but his attention got caught by Rex's worried expression,

"Commander, hey, look at me." she turned her eyes upward, as Rex gently removed the fork from her hands. "You're not on Sarrish, ok? You're safe." She nodded, taking another deep breath. Rex sighed, he wasn't exactly sure what had happened on Sarrish, but if Esinon was this scared, it must have been bad. All he knew is she had been captured after her gunship had crashed, but that was all the details of the mission report. It had been a costly loss for the Republic, so many troopers died… Cut cleared his throat,

"Kids, how about you help clear the table," he said, both of them nodded before sprinting off. Esinon stood up,

"I need some fresh air," she mumbled, she walked over to the door and glanced at Rex looking for some sort of approval before leaving, he gave a nod, and she disappeared outside. Soon Suu left for the kitchen with the kids, leaving the two men alone,

"What exactly happened on Sarrish? Because I've never seen someone look as scared as she did in the barn." Cut said, Rex sighed, rubbing his numb arm with his hand.

"The mission report can only tell so much. Sarrish was costly, her gunship got shot down, and she along with the rest of her squad were captured. When General Kenobi found her a week later, she was the only survivor." Rex explained, Cut got up walking towards the door, "Where are you going?"

"To go check on the kid," he said, before walking outside.

* * *

Esinon had her knees tucked to her chest, letting the cool night breeze wash over her in waves, deep breath in, deep breath out, she heard the door open and whipped around to see it was only Cut. She hugged her knees closer to her chest, _I'm safe. _

"Hey, kid,"

"Hey," she mumbled,

"I'm sorry if I pushed too far about your scar, I didn't know,"

"You can't read my mind, so how could you know?" she asked, she signed turning her attention back to the stars above.

"War leaves scars. Not all of them you can see. I used to be as skittish as you when I first ran from Geonosis when I married Suu. I used to freak out when she dropped a plate or came up behind me too suddenly. It's alright to be scared, but I think you should tell Rex about it. His mind is trying to figure out what's going on with you, he wants to help, and I would know because he's me." Cut said, patting her shoulder and going back inside. She closed her eyes for a minute listening to the rustle of the crops, she knew Cut was right. He did that in a very fatherly manner, leave it to him… a part of her wanted to tell Rex everything that had happened, just get it all out in the open, but… talking about it would make it real. She knew that it was real, but she wished it could just be a nightmare that she could wake up from and be able to find Foxtrot group waiting for her, alive and well. She turned her attention back to the sky, life was so simple out here, just the farm, and the cool air. No war, no fighting, no death, just peace, and silence, she could just be.

"Esinon!" she heard Shaeeah shout, "Come on! We want to show you something!"

* * *

Cut caught his daughter's hand as she darted for the door and the Commander outside.

"Hang on Shaeeah, be gentle with the Jedi, she's been through a lot." he explained, "She has scars you can't see,"

"Like you?" she asked,

"Yes, like me, just try not to stare at her scar," he said, starting to understand the story behind the marred Scipian markings. Shaeeah nodded before darting outside with Jekk close on her tail,

* * *

Shaeeah grabbed Esinon's hand, pulling the young Jedi up, Esinon was quite intrigued by what the young twi'lek was referring to when she said she had something to show her.

"This way!" she pulled Esinon along as they walked behind the house Jekk running ahead and then running back to check on them before darting off again, they soon made it to what looked like a stream, "This is our secret spot, you can't tell anyone. As soon as you step in the water you're sworn to secrecy." Shaeeah explained, Esinon doubted this place was a secret since they weren't that far from the house, the two twi'lek children stripped of their socks and boots jumping into the shallow stream,

"Come on!" Jekk shouted, playfully splashing his sister, Esinon pulled off her socks and boots, tentatively stepping into the water, a shiver ran over her body as the cold water flooded over her bare feet. They played a game called catch the fish, which was basically tagged except when you got caught, you had to climb onto the bank and flop around like a fish for five seconds before you could get back into the water. After what seemed like an hour of running around, all three of them collapsed onto the bank, breathing heavily as they stared up at the stars.

"Do you know any other games or cool tricks?" Shaeeah asked Esinon paused thinking of her force abilities, the kids were gonna kick out of this. She rolled over facing the house, she could see a familiar blond head staring at her through the window, she smiled waving to let Rex know she was still ok. Only he would get shot and still be worried about someone else, it was one of his best qualities. He gave a nod before disappearing from the window,

"I know a couple of tricks," she said, pushing herself to her knees.

"Like what?" Jekk asked his big eyes staring at her intently,

"Just watch," she climbed back into the stream, closing her eyes and reaching her hands out towards the water,

* * *

Shaeeah and Jekk watched in astonishment as the water slowly crawled out of the stream, and latched onto Esinon's hands, she slowly raised her hands, gracefully drawing them around her body, leaving trails of water droplets, sparkling like diamonds in the moonlight around her, her hands finally stopped free of water in front of her chest, the droplets began to swirl around her faster and faster casting refractions of light down onto the faces of the amazed children. Finally, the vortex shot upward, sending a sparkling of rain down upon all of them. Esinon opened her eyes,

"She's a princess," Shaeeah stated matter of factly to her brother, "That's how she can do all that stuff."

"Really?" Jekk asked,

"Try Jedi," Esinon said with a laugh as she stepped back out of the stream,

"We have to tell daddy!" Shaeeah shouted, running back towards the house,

"Wait for me!" Jekk yelled, sprinting after her, Esinon shook her head with a smile, Esinon gathered the three pairs of boots and socks before walking back towards the house,

"Slow down, slow down, if you talk over each other, I can't understand you," Cut said, as both children blabbered to him, Rex gazed at her curiously as she stood in the door,

"She's a princess," Shaeeah explained breathlessly, "She can do magic,"

"She made the water move!" Jekk shouted, waving his hands around trying to mimic what Esinon did outside, Cut looked up at her for some sort of answer,

"What did you do Esinon?" he asked,

"Princess Esinon, daddy," Shaeeah corrected,

"My apologies, Princess Esinon, what did you do?" Cut asked playing along,

"I used the force," she said matter of factly,

"Ok, that explains a lot,"

"Do it again!" Jekk shouted excitedly, Esinon called her lightsaber into her hand and floated it up in the air.

"WOAH!" both kids screamed, Esinon giggled as they both started running around the room.

"Commander, since General Kenobi isn't here, I shall reprimand you in his place." Rex said, clearing his throat, "Esinon Windcaster, that is a very poor use of the force. You should not be frivolous with such a gift as this cosmic power." he said in a terrible impression of her Master, she stifled laughter,

"That's a terrible Master KenoOBIII!" Jekk came flying from the air into her arms, almost knocking her to the floor. The little twi'lek boy wrapped his little arms around her neck, Rex smiled as he watched his Commander run around with the two kids, with a carefree smile on her face. It was nice to see her relaxed, to see her just get to be a kid. She wasn't Commander Windcaster here, she was just Esinon, well Princess Esinon according to Shaeeah. Maybe her life would be different if she wasn't a Jedi, maybe his life would be different if he just quit. Have Esinon report that he had a complication with his wound and had died, or she could just stay here with him. Where she could be a normal kid, she could play outside with Shaeeah and Jekk, and he could farm and, and, and, he sighed, that was a nice dream. But that's all it could be, a dream.

"Alright, alright, time for chores," Suu said, gathering her kids into her arms,

"Awww,"

"I'll help too," Esinon said, starting towards the kitchen, "Rex, you ok?" He tore himself away from his thoughts,

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm fine, just thinking," she nodded slowly before wandering into the kitchen.

"Hey Rex, you want to play some Dejarik?" Cut asked him motioning to the table that he was sitting next to.  
"Sure,"

* * *

Esinon had been listening in on Rex's conversation with Cut, not really paying attention to the story Suu was reading to Shaeeah and Jekk, the twi'lek boy was currently sitting on her lap, intently listening to his mother. Cut had just finished retelling the story of Geonosis,

"It was the day I felt my life didn't have any meaning. My team, my squad, was gone. I was just another expendable clone waiting to be slaughtered in a war that made no sense to me. Can you understand that?" Cut asked,

"I've been in countless battles, and lost many brothers-" Esinon tensed up a little bit thinking about Sarrish, she took a deep breath, _I'm safe. _"They were my family," She saw Rex glance in her direction, she pretended to be invested in what Suu was saying, "my home," Shaeeah wriggled out of her mother's lap running over to her father.

"Daddy, we finished all our chores, can we go play outside?" she asked sweetly,

"Alright, only for a few minutes,"

"Thank you, daddy! Come on Jekk," she said, running for the door,

"And keep the house in view!"

"We will!" she called with Jekk close on her tail as they darted outside,

"I'm gonna go sit with them," Esinon made for the door, she again waited for some sort of approval from Rex before leaving, he nodded and she walked outside. Sarrish must have been bad if she was acting like this, she looked like she wanted to forget the whole war, and just pretend this was her life, a normal life. A life a kid deserved.

"You have wonderful children Cut," Rex said, still staring at where Esinon had been a few seconds earlier.

"I know you think I'm a coward Rex," he turned back to face Cut, "But believe me when I say this, I will fight till my last breath to protect them.

**A few hours later…**

Esinon was enjoying the peace and quiet of the night on Saleucami, she fiddled with her padawan braid, running a finger over a blue band, a green band, and a red band, she was hoping to add a yellow one soon. She heard a creak on the floorboards,

"Not so fast little lady," a slick voice growled, she jumped to her feet, drawing her saber and looking around wildly, no one was there. She closed her eyes, her hands shaking, as she replaced her saber on her belt, _I'm safe. _A loud scream echoed from out in the field,

"Run!" Jekk screamed, that, that was real.

"Run! Run! Run! Monsters!" Shaeeah wailed, Cut and Suu came running out of the house gathering their children into their arms,

"Shaeeah, Jekk, what's wrong?" Cut asked, the twi'lek girl pointed out into the field,

"Monsters, they're chasing us,"

"What monsters, honey, where?" Suu asked, gently stroking a trembling Jekk's lekku,

"They hatch from the big egg in the field!" Shaeeah exclaimed, Cut grabbed a pair of binocs, as Esinon tried to sense what was out in the field, she could see glinting white optics flickering in the field as dark figures shifted in the crops, commandos.

"That's not good," Cut mumbled, "I count twenty,"

"Cut, what's out there?" Suu asked,

"Commandos," he growled, just when she thought she could get away from the war, it followed her all the way out here.

"What are they doing?" Rex asked the commandos were splitting up,

"Suu, get the kids upstairs," Cut instructed,

"Come, children, come now," the three of them darted up the stairs, as Cut closed the door locking it,

"What weapons do you have?" Rex asked, Cut opened a closet door to reveal two DC-17s, the sniper rifle from earlier, and a DC-15s.

"How are you with a blaster? Lightsabers will attract attention." Cut said handing her the pistol, and the other to Rex,

"I've had training from ARCs, I've got this," she replied, time to make Fives and Echo proud.

"We can catch them in a crossfire, I'll take that corner-" Rex began, his Captain side taking over,

"No Captain, with respect, you're not in charge here."

"I-I can be useful," Rex sputtered,

"Sir, both of you are injured, and you have only one good arm," Cut said, motioning to Rex,

"But I can fight,"

"So can I, Rex, Esinon, I need you two to be the last line of defense for my family." Rex paused, thinking it over, Cut looked at him with pleading eyes,

"We'll take care of them," he finally conceded, starting towards the stairs,

"Thank you," Esinon and Rex both took a post upstairs, she gripped the blaster tightly, now was not the time to freeze up, but she was pulling out a lightsaber as soon as she saw a commando get up here. The sound of the door bursting open, and blaster fire, she gave a nod to Suu, she could sense Cut was still alive. He was in the GAR and had received all the standard training, he could do this, she was confident. Another blaster shot echoed, silence… the seconds passed by agonizingly, deep breath in, deep breath out, loud blaster fire sounded a few shots flying into the room upstairs, Esinon ducking out of the way, a shot hit the ceiling, bringing a large portion of it down, Esinon along with it. She hit the ground hard, she sat there stunned for a moment until a red plasma bolt almost hit her. She drew her saber, vaulting over the debrief and engaging two commando droids,

"Rex! They're coming for you!" Cut shouted, Esinon did a backbend avoiding the swinging arm of the broken commando, she slashed her saber through it, and then struck the arm of the other droid taking it clean off, Cut was engaging the other droid, she heard a loud crash, she turned to see Cut thrown across the room, she launched herself at the droid that had just attacked him, Rex came crashing down from above almost hitting Esinon, she dove out of the way, unfortunately into that second commando. She called her saber into her hand, stabbing it backward into its torso, it collapsing. The final commando grabbed Rex by the neck, holding the injured soldier in the air, with a precise swing of her lightsaber she decapitated the droid, releasing Rex as it collapsed.

"Da- daddy?" Jekk asked tentatively, the three of them peeking over the hole in the ceiling.

"Cut, are you alright?" Suu called,

"I'm ok, it's over," he said, smiling at his family.

**A few hours later…**

Rex tried his best not to shift on the couch and his injured arm, Esinon had won the fight about who was gonna sleep there, she won by pulling the CO card, which she didn't use often, instead, she was curled up a few feet away in a chair. He closed his eyes, his mind finally settling from all the excitement,

* * *

Screaming pounded through his mind, it looked like he was in a cave,

"Not so fast little lady," a slick voice growled, a chiss stepped out of the darkness, red eyes flickering in the moonlight, his heart was pounding into his throat and he became dizzy from taking quick light breaths. The chiss pulled out a Vibro blade coming closer to him, as he attempted to move he felt pain rip through his whole body, he almost blacked out from searing white fire. Where was he? The chiss drew closer, closer, just as he was on top of Rex, he threw the Vibro blade just past his head and he heard a pained scream behind him. He whipped around to see Alpha crashing to the floor, a pool of crimson blood seeping out on the rock floor. He could see Zee, Apex, and Blackout chained to the wall, the chiss smiled a devilish smile before pulling out a blaster, he proceeded to shoot each clone, one, by one, they hung there, dead, he struggled, trying to get to them, but he couldn't move, restrained to the floor by his agony. The chiss then turned the blaster on him,

"You'll make us rich," he snarled, firing,

* * *

He bolted upright despite the screaming in his shoulder, he panted looking around, he was in Cut's house. He moped the cold sweat off his brow, what was that? His breathing finally slowed back to its normal pace, he turned his head at the creak of a chair. Esinon rolled over in her sleep her face twisted in a pain, she shifted again, shrinking further into the chair,

"Commander?" he whispered, trying not to wake up Cut and his family, who were upstairs, they had only broken the kids' room in the attack, the master was still intact. She didn't respond, instead, she started to shift more violently in whatever dream she was having, "Esinon," She let out a small cry of pain, still remaining trapped in her subconscious, he slowly eased himself off the couch, the throbbing in his shoulder starting to dull, he knelt down in front of the chair, "Esinon," he shook her gently, she cried out again softly,

"Please don't hurt them," she murmured, he shook her a little harder,

"Esinon, wake up," Instead she shrunk away from his touch, trying desperately to disappear into the chair, "Kid, you're dreaming, wake up," he said a little bit louder, shaking her a little bit more forcefully, her eyes flashed open darting around wildly, "Esinon," Her fearful brown eyes finally came to rest on him,

"Rex?" She looked around more slowly, realizing where they were, "Sorry I woke you up," she mumbled, seemingly ashamed of herself,

"It's ok kid, I was already awake anyway,"

"Did I…"

"No," She could tell she was trying to ask if he had almost hit him, she had accidentally hit Echo once when she was having a dream, the Jedi with a wild imagination had a hard time coming back from her subconscious sometimes and had more vivid dreams than most. He wondered if it was a force thing, he paused, the dream he had was very vivid… it was almost like he wasn't himself… he thought back to the mission report from Esinon's capture, the bounty hunters in question were a human male and a chiss. Had he just dreamed of one of her memories? Or a jumbling of memories?

"Did you have a bad dream or something?" she asked softly, trying to turn the attention away from herself,

"Something like that," he said, running a hand over his face, "Esinon, this might sound a little crazy… but I think I might have dreamt of one of your memories… from Sarrish. Is that possible?" She paused tensing up at the mention of Sarrish, she rubbed her fingers over the kyber crystal she wore around her neck,

"Maybe… I mean, Jedi have the ability to put thoughts in people's minds so if my guard was down a memory of mine could have possibly slipped over to your unshielded mind, since you were sleeping." she postulated,

"If it was… I'm so sorry that you had to go through that," he whispered,

"Don't be sorry for me, be sorry for Zee, Blackout, Apex, and Alpha," she whispered, tears starting to trickle down her face, "I-I couldn't do anything, and they took Alpha, and they killed him, and I should have saved them, I should have done better, I should have been able to protect them." she stammered through tears, her voice threatening to break into full-blown sobs, she rubbed furiously at the tears that just. Wouldn't. Stop.

"I-I didn't know," Rex whispered, trying to figure out the best way to comfort the trembling girl,

"You knew about my capture," she whimpered,

"But you didn't tell me about all that stuff kid," he replied, she wrapped her arms around her knees in an impromptu hug, like she had done so many times before, trying to be enough comfort for herself, as quiet sobs escaped her lips, she didn't even register Rex moving before she found herself in a bone-crushing hug. She sobbed and finally let go, burying her head in Rex's shoulder, tears soaked through his blacks, but he didn't care.

"Y-you'd think that watching th-them die would be the hardest part," she whispered, her broken breaths starting to even out, Rex's heart clenched, no kid should be having to go through this.

"No, it's that you didn't," Rex replied, he had done this too many times before, holding sobbing brothers as they wailed about how it should have been them. Rex had had those thoughts run through his own head too many times. After Teth, Orto Plutonia, Ryloth. Every time he was wishing that it had been him who had died, "It's hard to be the one that survives." She nodded, he couldn't believe he was helping a child cope with war. She shouldn't be out here. She shouldn't be going through this, but she wasn't given a choice, and neither was he.

"Does it get easier?" she mumbled, all the crying had tired her out, and she was close to passing out asleep on Rex's shoulder. Rex froze at the question, did it get easier? Had it gotten easier watching his brothers die? No, it hadn't, but grief faded with time, he still remembered each and every one of them. It did get a little bit easier to be the one who survived when he was reminded, in times like this, that he wasn't the only one who felt this way.

"Yes, it gets easier with time," she nodded again, giving a contented sigh, and didn't show any signs of shifting from her position in Rex's arms. Well, he was not gonna sleep sitting upright, he shifted the now sleeping padawan in his arms, crawling into the chair that was too small for both of them, but it didn't really matter. She curled up into his side, comforted by the fact that she had something to hold onto.

"Thank you vod," she whispered,

"You're welcome vod 'ika."

**The next morning…**

"Can I drive?" Esinon asked hopefully as she helped Rex pack their supplies onto an eopie,

"No, you're still concussed," He said, strapping a pack of food Suu had made them,

"Come on! I took out like four commandos last night," she huffed,

"The answers still no kid," he said,

"Please," she made puppy eyes,

"Nope, not falling for that one again," he said, she dropped the act,

"Fine," Rex strapped the last of supplies and patted the eopie,

"Alright, that should do it,"

"Captain Rex, Commander Windcaster, are you going to turn in my husband?" Suu asked, Cut looked downcast as he tried to comfortingly rub his wife's shoulder, he knew what was coming, Esinon and Rex glanced at each other,

"I'm sorry Suu, it's my duty," Rex said, getting a serious look on his face, his softened, "But in my condition, I probably won't remember any of this." All eyes shifted to Esinon,

"No kid should have to grow up without a father, I would know," Esinon said, thinking about her own dad back on Coruscant.

"Oh thank you!" Suu exclaimed, hugging Cut excitedly,

"You're still a deserter Cut, but you are certainly not a coward," Rex said,

"Captain Rex, Esinon, are you still with us?" Master Kenobi's voice asked over the com,

"Yes, General Kenobi, and thankfully on the mend,"

"I'm ok too Master, just a concussion," Esinon said, even from here she could sense her Master's nerves.

"That's great news, we certainly missed you both at the party,"

"Well Master, we had one of our own to attend to," she said, turning back to look at the family on the porch,

"Can't wait to hear about it, we're standing by," the com went dark,

"You both are welcome to stay," Cut offered,

"This is your home Cut," Rex put an arm around Esinon, "Our family, is elsewhere." Shaeeah and Jekk came running off the porch wrapping their arms around Esinon's legs, she pulled them both into a hug,

"Goodbye Princess Esinon," Shaeeah said,

"Bye," Jekk said, the two children let go running back to their parents,

"You guys come around if you need anything," Cut said, they both nodded, climbing onto the eopie and taking off towards their family.

**A few hours later…**

"Master, can I accompany Rex onto the Resolute?" Esinon asked, beaming up at him, she hadn't looked like this in a while. His padawan seemed a lot better coming back from that abandoned farm like she had got some healing out there.

"Of course," he said, smiling,

"Thank you Master!" she exclaimed, sprinting off towards the hanger,

"She seems in a better mood," Cody remarked,

"She does, doesn't she," he replied,

* * *

"Commander!" she hadn't even finished exiting the shuttle, she and the 501st troopers had taken back to the Resolute when she saw two ARC troopers come sprinting through the hanger,

"Fives! Echo!" she shouted, running towards them, she hadn't seen them since the day her parents came back, she tackled Echo in a hug,

"We heard about what happened on Sarrish, are you ok?" Echo asked, crouching down to get at eye level with her,

"I'm gonna be," she said, Fives crouched down as well, she pulled both of her older brothers in for a hug, "I missed you guys,"

"We missed you too Taz," Fives replied, both ARCs looked up to see their Captain standing there with a fond expression tugging at his lips, they froze for a second wondering if he was going to reprimand them, Esinon turned around, with an arm still around Echo, opening her other arm, "You too, that's an order," He rolled his eyes, before eagerly joining the group hug. She smiled to herself, this, this is what made all the suffering worth it.

* * *

**Couple of translation for you: vod is the Mandalorian word for brother and sister, and if you add 'ika at the end it means little brother or sister. **

**Umm, the whole Lawquane family is underrated. Cut is the best dad ever, Suu is so sweet, but also sassy, she means business, and Shaeeah and Jekk are sooooooo adorable! **

**So this is my favorite episode when I have a bad day, I watch this episode. I've always loved a good single dad Rex AU, Rex is a good dad. Sorry to go all angsty on you guys.**

**You may or may not see a Rex and Esinon stay on Salucami AU in the tornado trio spin off... **

**Ok, next up on let's make this canon corner: Sticking to the theme of Rex being everyone's favorite dad. Fives definitely called Rex dad at some point, since Rex was always there to look out for him. It was only once, and they agreed to never speak about it again.**

**Thank you for reading! Make sure to leave a review! **


	18. Duchess of Mandalore (And Hot-Heads)

**Happy May Fourth everybody! I decided to post today instead of tomorrow because of clone wars airing it's last episode :( so there will be no new chapter tomorrow. A couple quick words about Clone Wars, I'm super sad that it's over, but I'm smiling because it happened. Clone wars is the real reason I fell in love, really in love with star wars in the first place. Flashback to me waking up at three am and not being able to sleep so I started cruising Netflix and started watching the Clone wars. Best accidental watch I've ever made! And Clone Wars is the reason Esinon Windcaster exists in this UA (universe alteration) **

**I'm also apologizing in advance for making you relive the season seven feels in this story when we get there. **

**Anyways, HAPPY STAR WARS DAY! I LOVE YOU ALL!**

* * *

**A few days later…**

"WAXER!" Cody's furious yells echoed through the halls of the _Negotiator, _

"And that's our cue to make ourselves scarce," Waxer whispered as they peeked around the corner at their soaked Captain, Esinon was too busy stifling giggles, another prank, perfectly executed. Before the trooper and the Jedi could make their hasty escape they ran into Boil, of course, they did, Boil was always watching their movements.

"What were you two doing?" he asked suspiciously,

"We were just… uh…" she couldn't think of an alibi,

"ESINON WINDCASTER!" Cody yelled again, Waxer and Esinon looked to one another,

"Run!" Before they could get away, Boil grabbed them both, dragging them towards a very angry looking Cody.

"No! We'll have dish duty for a month," Esinon whined, trying to escape,

"Well you should have thought about that before you pranked the Captain," Boil replied,

"You're no fun," she grumbled,

"I regret nothing." Waxer said,

**A few hours later…**

"I regret everything." Waxer mumbled as the two of them were knee-deep in dishes,

"Well, friends that wash dishes together, stay together," she replied, Cody had forbidden her from using her speed to complete the enormous task, despite her technically having the rank of Commander. Off the battlefield, she often just disregarded that fact. Off to the side, her gauntlet buzzed, she grabbed a towel drying her hands.

"Blur here," she finally got to ask Cody about Commander Blur, and it was apparently something the shinies called her, but she had started permanently using it as her call sign. She expected it to be her Master or Fives and Echo, but much to her surprise,

"Hey sweetheart!" her mother's voice exclaimed from the comlink, Esinon covered the com, sighing, this was the third time this week they had managed to get her com channel frequency, how did they keep doing this?

"Hey Mom," Esinon said,

"How's your day going?" she asked sweetly,

"Uh, I'm kinda busy," she ran a hand down her face, "Mom, how did you get my com channel?"

"The Chancellor gave it to us," her mother replied, Esinon sighed, she wasn't gonna voice her current annoyance with the Chancellor, for some reason he was really pushing this whole thing with her parents. She covered the comlink,

"Of course he did," she removed her hand, "Well Mom, I have a lot of duties I have to attend to-"

"I know, I just wanted to check in on you, your father and I heard about you getting injured on Saleucami," Esinon rubbed a thumb over her forehead,

"Yeah, yep, it was only a concussion, and we are at war, mom. Injury is gonna happen,"

"I know, well, I'll let you get back to work, stay safe, love you, sweetheart."

"Yep, bye," she quickly hung up, she laid her head down on the counter, "I liked it better when my parents lived on a different planet."

"Can't relate, I don't have parents." Waxer replied, still scrubbing trays,

"Lucky," she muttered, "Took them thirteen years to want to be a part of my life,"

"And you're not gonna try and let them?" Waxer asked, she turned her head to look at the bald clone, well he needed a haircut, a small, black, fuzz was starting to grow over his head.

"I wasn't planning on it, no attachments, 'member? Most Jedi don't get to know who their parents are," she sighed grabbing another tray, "I'm one of the lucky few," she said, sarcastically,

"It can't be all that bad, I know the abandonment and stuff, but at least they're trying," he remarked,

"Yeah, I'll give them that." _But I like my family here much better. _

**A few months later…**

Diplomacy or deception? The council of Neutral systems speaks for over 1,500 worlds who want to stay out of the war. But rumors have reached the Republic Senate suggesting that the council's new leader, Duchess Satine Kryze of Mandalore is secretly building her own army to fight for the Separatist cause. Now Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and his padawan Esinon Windcaster are sent to Mandalore to discover the truth behind these claims.

* * *

"Master, can you fly?" Esinon asked Obi-Wan turned to her, that was strange, she was always very eager to fly.

"Of course, is there a reason why?"

"Master Skywalker says don't fly upset," she replied, as they walked towards the Republic shuttle,

"He is quite the hypocrite, and why are you upset?" he asked, she looked like she was about to dodge the question when she remembered their deal from Geonosis.

"It's because of- ARGH!" she groaned at the sound of her comlink, she aggressively denied the hailing, "This! This is the reason I'm upset!" She sighed, placing her hands over her face as she took a deep breath, "My parents won't leave me alone," she mumbled,

"How? They don't have your com channel, do they? That's confidential military information."

"The Chancellor gave it to them, this is the fifth time this morning my mom has called me," she said, starting to walk towards the ship. Obi-Wan watched as she climbed up the catwalk onto the ship, why would the Chancellor keep giving Esinon's parents her com channel frequency? What was he up to? Was there something he hoped to gain? He would have to figure that out later, he had a Duchess to visit.

**Mandalore…**

A transport was waiting for them when they arrived, with a guard dressed in royal blue, purple, and teal, Esinon could feel Obi-Wan's nervousness, she hadn't felt him this nervous since she had chased after Bossk without him.

"_Master, are you alright? You're pretty nervous," _she said in their bond,

"_Yes, well, it's been a very long time since I've seen the Duchess," _he replied, hang on, the Duchess's name was Satine, was it the same Satine from her weird bacta tank dream?

"_Is she an old friend of yours?" _

"_I suppose so, I haven't seen her since I was a padawan myself. I doubt she remembers me." _

"_Don't say that Master, I'm sure she'll be thrilled to see you!" _

"_Leave it to you to be the optimist in this situation." _

"_Only when you need me to be Master," _he smiled, shaking his head. She finally came back to the world around her, her breath caught in her throat, this place was beautiful. Gorgeous, glittering skyscrapers soared as they raced past speeders, the whole world was made out of glass and strong steel, square-like topiaries gilded the sides of buildings.

"I had the same reaction when I saw this place for the first time," Obi-Wan said, as Esinon gaped at the stunning landscape. They soon made it to the palace, walking into the glittering structure, a man dressed in simple cream robes and bright amethyst eyes came to greet them,

"General Kenobi, Commander Windcaster,"

"Thank you for meeting with us Prime Minister Almec," Master Kenobi said, shaking the man's hand,

"I welcome you as a servant of the people, but I am troubled by the false rumors that brought you here." he said, "Mandalore would never turn against the Republic. The Duchess Satine values peace more than her own life."

"Oh, I am aware of the Duchess's views," Obi-Wan said, as they began walking towards the throne room,

"Master Kenobi, Mandalore's violent past is behind us. All of our warriors were exiled to our moon, Concordia. They died out years ago." Almec explained, Esinon had read about Mandalore, they hunted Jedi for sport, yes she knew that the new Mandalorians were all pacifists but it was slightly unnerving to be here.

"Hmm, are you certain?" Master Kenobi asked, stroking his beard, "I recently encountered a man who wore Mandalorian armor, Jango Fett." she paused, the clone template? He was long dead, but this must have been from the time that Anakin was his padawan.

"Jango Fett was a common bounty hunter." Almec snapped, seemingly offended by the statement, "How he acquired the armor is beyond me."

"Well Master Kenobi," a female voice interrupted, they all turned to see the stunningly dressed Duchess Satine standing in the doorway, "My shining Jedi Knight, to the rescue again."

"_So she does remember you," _Esinon remarked, Obi-Wan sighed,

"_It does appear that way," _he replied, "After all these years, you're more beautiful than ever." Esinon cocked an eyebrow when he said, good friend…

"Kind words from a man who accuses me of treachery," she said quite harshly, the man to her right seemed quite taken aback,

"I would never accuse you of personal wrongdoing Duchess. However, a Separatist saboteur attacked one of our cruisers, a Mandalorian saboteur." Esinon held up her gauntlet a holo video playing of a very skilled and quick-moving Mandalorian. She froze the video so the Duchess could get a good look, "Also Duchess, this is my padawan Esinon Windcaster," Esinon bowed,

"It is lovely to meet you Padawan Windcaster," the Duchess replied kindly,

"But Master Kenobi, you must be mistaken," Almec interrupted, "No Mandalorian would engage in such violence. Not anymore. Where is this prisoner now?"

"He took his own life rather than submitting to questioning." Obi-Wan said solemnly, "I know these commandos fought in many wars, often against Jedi."

"Every one of my people is as trustworthy as I am." Satine snapped again,

"I know we sound a bit defensive but-" the man to her right began, Satine slammed a fist down on her throne,

"Clearly your investigation was ordered because the Senate is eager to intervene in our affairs."

"Our investigation was ordered by the Jedi council," Obi-Wan said calmly, the Duchess sat back a little bit, relaxing,

"I stand corrected, General Kenobi, perhaps you'd like to join me on a walk through the city." the Duchess said, offering out her hand. Obi-Wan paused for a minute, she held out her hand more firmly, making it clear this walk wasn't a suggestion. He took her hand, helping her down the stairs before they started for the door,

"Esinon, you may go explore the city, just don't stray too far," Obi-Wan instructed,

"Yes, Master,"

* * *

Pockets of sunlight cast over his datapad, all this stuff was boring. Stupid politics. Korkie sighed, looking up from his homework, a young girl walked past, dirty blond hair haloed by the sun, Scipian markings donned her forehead. What was Scipian doing all the way out here? A glinting metal tube swung at her side, a lightsaber. A Jedi! Homework would have to wait, he ditched the datapad, hopped to his feet and began walking beside her. At first, she looked a little stunned, but soon resumed her passive demeanor,

"Hello," he greeted,

"Hello,"

"You're a Jedi, aren't you,"

"Perceptive," she replied,

"I'm Korkie," he offered his hand out, she shook it,

"Esinon,"

"So what's a Jedi like yourself doing all the way out here on Mandalore? This is neutral space,"

"We're conducting an investigation," she replied,

"We're?"

"My Master is here as well," she pointed out a dirty blond-haired man, walking with his Aunt no less,

"Hey, he's with my Aunt!" he exclaimed, "Come on, let's go talk to them!" he grabbed her hand, pulling her over to the Mandalore guards and his Aunt. She pulled her hand away as soon as they arrive,

"Korkie!" The Duchess grinned, pulling her nephew in for a hug.

"Hi, Auntie Satine," he said,

"I see you made a friend, why am I not surprised that it's only been ten minutes." the dirty blond-haired man said, shaking his head, smiling,

"It is me, Master," Esinon replied, Korkie grinned at her and she gave a soft smile.

"Korkie I'd like you to meet Obi-Wan Kenobi," Satine said, motioning to the man. "Obi-Wan, this is my nephew, Korkie."

"It's nice to meet you Korkie," Esinon could sense something coming,

"Likewise-" the building in front of them exploded, they all ducked away, Esinon was thrown to her feet, skidding across the glass,

"Are you ok?" Korkie asked, offering her his hand, she brushed past it, eyes darting frantically,

"I'm fine," she scrambled to her feet, she sprinted over to an injured man, the smoke billowing out from the hole in the structure,

"Esinon!" Obi-Wan shouted, over the screaming,

"I'm here Master!" she called, heaving the man upward with surprising ease, and helping him to the safe zone. She ran over to her Master, with Korkie right behind her.

"A hooligan couldn't have arranged an attack of this scale," Obi-Wan remarked,

"Then it must be an off-worlder," Satine said, helping a man up, Esinon spotted a familiar-looking orange symbol, spinning slowly in the smoldering remains of the building, it was the same symbol the saboteur wore,

"Are you sure about that?" The Duchess turned to the symbol, smiling its evil little grin at them in triumph,

"The symbol of the Death Watch," she murmured,

"This goes far beyond vandalism," Obi-Wan said, "This is a political statement against your government. And against you." His eyes shifted warily among the people, "It's not safe here, I'm taking you back to the palace." He helped her to her feet, "Esinon, I want to interview everyone here, nobody leaves this scene. Korkie, I suggest you come with us."

"Yes Master," she replied, Korkie started to head with his aunt, as Esinon turned around to survey the people more screams and shouts echoed from the crowd. A bald man was shoving his way past people in an attempt to escape, "Stop right there!"

She vaulted over debris, sprinting after the man, her mind was rushing and she couldn't find her focus to use her speed. She chased him around a corner, coming to a staircase, he was already down it by the time she reached it, she leaped down it, pushing herself to move faster.

She ran through an emerald hallway, exiting onto a balcony, he skidded to a halt seeing he was cornered, with a Jedi standing in the entrance, she held out a hand trying to ease his mind, "I only want to talk,"

In a flash, a yellow plasma blot whizzed past her head, she jumped out of the way as another way narrowly missed, she somersaulted and leaped to her feet, igniting her lightsaber, she deflected a few bolts, not attempting to hit the man. She finally got sick of him shooting at her, and deflected a shot to his hand, making him drop the blaster.

His face turned into a snarl as he charged her, she ducked landing on her back, using his momentum against him, she kicked him in the chest, sending him flying over her and crashing to the ground. "I don't want to hurt you." Obi-Wan, Satine, and Korkie came sprinting through the tunnel,

"Stay here," Obi-wan instructed Korkie and Satine, catching Esinon's attention long enough for the man to make a run for the balconies edge. He climbed up on the railing holding his arms open,

"Calhava bru'chun dralsye'ran!" he cried before free-falling off the edge,

"No!" Esinon screamed as a sickening crack sounded below, Obi-Wan grabbed Esinon's hand, pulling her away from the balcony as she attempted to run over.

"Esinon, Esinon, deep breath," He said, gripping his padawan's shoulder, she obeyed, "You did not kill that man," he said firmly, she nodded, her shoulders still trembling slightly, they both made their way down with the Duchess, the man looked to still be alive, laying in the cracked glass. Satine rushed over to the man, who began speaking in Mando' a to her, she wished that she had had more lessons with Fives and Echo so he could tell what they were saying,

"Are you alright?" Korkie asked, tearing her from her thoughts,

"Oh, um, yeah,"

"That was very brave," He marveled,

"Just doing my job," she replied, Obi-Wan nudged her,

"Can you tell me what he's saying?"

"Whatever he's speaking is more advanced than my capabilities," she said, as the Duchess leaned down and spoke once more to the man, he then gave his final breath.

"He was speaking in the dialect they use on our moon, Concordia," Satine said sorrowfully, standing back up,

"I shall like to visit this moon of yours. Perhaps I could accompany the body?" Obi-Wan asked,

"The Concordian moon is its own province with its own governor. You'll need me to escort you." Satine said,

"That won't be necessary," Obi-Wan said, waving his hand,

"Actually it will." Satine said, "You won't make much progress there without me, especially since your padawan was just involved in the death of a Concordian." Esinon bit her lip, Obi-Wan stepped protectively in front of her,

"My padawan did not kill that man,"

"I know, that's why I'm still talking to you," she said, walking briskly past them, taking Korkie with her.

"Bye!" he shouted, she gave a small, he had the biggest, stupidest grin on his face, it was kind of adorable.

**Twenty minutes later…**

The shuttle pulled towards the moon, Concordia, it was swirling green and brown,

"I thought Concordia was an agricultural settlement," Obi-Wan said, noting the substantial amount of brown in the planet's tendrils.

"Before the end of our wars, they turned it into a mining base. The sheer number of mining facilities here nearly destroyed the forests. They're finally growing back." Satine explained,

"Forests huh? We're back in my element Master," Esinon joked,

"Yes, Master Yoda said you used to climb the sacred tree often as a youngling," he replied,

"I used to sleep in that tree when I was youngling." Obi-Wan sighed,

"Why am I not surprised?" The ship pulled into a very fancy durasteel hanger, leave to it the Mandalorians to make everything fancy. The catwalk lowered as the three exited, accompanied by a white casket and two guards. A blond man was standing there with two guards dressed in silver,

"Duchess Satine, you are most welcome." he greeted,

"Thank you, Governor Vizsla. May I present Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, and his padawan, Esinon Windcaster. They are representing the Jedi Council." Both Jedi gave a nod to the Governor, "Governor Vizsla is one of the officials I spoke of. He's been working to find the members of the Death Watch."

"I take it you've heard the rumors about Satine, and how she's supposedly leading Mandalore into an alliance with the Separatists," Vizsla said, sorrowfully,

"My instructions are to seek the truth," Obi-Wan said, the casket passed by them,

"The man who bombed the memorial shrine?"

"Yes. He was apparently a part of Death Watch,"

"A worrisome prospect," he said, falling deep in thought, he took a deep breath before re-meeting their eyes, "Now if you'll excuse me, General, we must attend to the body." The Governor gave a nod before he walked off with his guards. Satine turned to follow them, but Obi-Wan caught her hand,

"I need a favor from you. Please keep Governor Vizsla occupied at dinner," he said, Esinon could tell where this was going,

"And where are you going?" she asked,

"Just for a look around. I'd like to see one of these mining facilities for myself," he replied,

"You mean you want to determine if they're still operational?"

"I hope to determine they're not," he said,

"Master, please no, think of the loth cat," Esinon said,

"Esinon enough with the loth cat," Obi-Wan sighed,

"Not until your loth cat stops sticking its nose where it doesn't belong." she huffed, Satine stared at both of them in confusion,

"Right," Obi-Wan pulled a small device from his belt, "I want you to wear this earpiece so that we can stay in contact in case you run into any trouble."

"He means so he can call you when we inevitably end up in a situation that will probably kill us," Esinon said, already walking towards the speeders. Obi-Wan deposited the device in her hand,

"Remember that you are here under my protection. Please try not to cause problems where none yet exist." Satine said, placing the piece in her ear.

"Think of this as us searching for solutions," Esinon replied, jumping onto a speeder,

"I have to tell you opposed to all of this!" she shouted over the roar of speeders,

"I'd be disappointed if you weren't!" Obi-Wan called back, as the two Jedi raced out of the hanger.

**A few minutes later…**

Her speeder skidded to a halt in front of a large pair of blast doors, the large mountains towering around them, she could just sense they were walking into trouble.

"Master, remember when I said if I died from the queen on Geonosis I would come back and haunt you every day of your life?" she asked, as they both stood in front of the doors.

"Yes, why?"

"That still stands," she replied,

"Noted," He pressed the button and the tri doors whooshed opened, the mine looked mostly abandoned, the dust stirred underneath their feet. They crept around a corner just to see no one was there. They continued down the hallway, where there was an ominous blue glow at the end of it. A conveyor belt lay to their left, they finally made it to the end where the mine opened up to large, very operational looking equipment.

"This doesn't look abandoned to me," Esinon muttered, she shifted her eyes off to her right, where lines of silver packs lay, upon closer inspection, they were loads of jetpacks, fitted with three missiles each. Next to the jetpacks were Mandalorian helmets with the same coloring of Death Watch. She carefully picked one up, remembering her last unfortunate run-in with a helmet like this, running her thumb along with the visor, a primal scream sounded as yellow plasma bolts whipped past her head, she held up the helmet in the defense as the man in Mandalorian armor, tackled her, he bounded up disappearing, she scrambled to her feet, igniting her lightsaber, in a matter of seconds her Master was at her side, as they scanned the darkness for the assailant. Her Master flagged his handoff to the right, she nodded as they tentatively split.

"We're here on a diplomatic mission, under the protection of Duchess Satine," Obi-Wan called out into the darkness. Something told her whoever was down here didn't much care about politics or the Duchess,

"We do not recognize her rule!" the man snarled, leaping over the conveyor belt, and firing a few shots at Esinon which she quickly deflected, she spun around, attempting to land a kick the blaster out of his hands, but she missed and he landed a bolt on her hands. She hissed dropping her lightsaber, clutching the injured appendage to her chest. The man took his chance seeing she was injured and lunged at her, fists swinging for her face,

"Mas-" before she could scream for the elder Jedi, the man socked her in the face, blocking savage punches the best she could, she managed to land a punch on the man's face, kneeing him in the groin. If he was gonna fight dirty, so was she, he collapsed to the floor, still gripping her arm, she almost went with him, another Mandalorian came running over, grabbing her other arm, he punched her in the face. They both threw her roughly to the ground, she skidded into a crouch. She licked her teeth, red blood coating them before she could get back up, a boot hit her face and the world went black.

**A few minutes later…**

She blinked her eyes a few times, finally coming to. Everything was upside down, she found herself restrained in a yellow holding shield,

"Esinon, Esinon!" Obi-Wan whisper-shouted,

"Master?" she tried to turn her head but was unable to, she could sense him behind her. "What happened?"

"It appears we have been captured," he replied, she sighed, she was going to haunt him so badly. The two Mandalorians that had attacked her earlier were standing next to them, so much for honor. They had attacked a fourteen-year-old. Losers.

"Commander says to sweep the area for any other Jedi until he arrives." the first one said, he glanced in her direction and she immediately shot him her signature death glare. "Sassy this one,"

"These ones are harmless enough without their lightsabers," he tossed their sabers up in their air, "The boss is gonna love this." Obi-Wan wrenched himself enough against the forcefield managing to press his comlink,

"Duchess, please acknowledge. We're in a bit of an awkward spot,"

"What is it with you and understatements!" Esinon said, exasperated, she couldn't see him but she knew Obi-Wan was glaring at her.

"We're being held by Death Watch,"

"Sorry to hear that," she replied,

"There's a tracking function on your comlink. Follow it due East to our location," he said,

"I don't know if I can do that at the moment,"

"It's extremely urgent," Obi-Wan said, a little more forcefully,

"Perhaps some fresh air would do me good," Esinon sighed in relief,

"Take a speeder, it's rough terrain."

"Oh, I'll find my way, never fear," she said,

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon was starting to get dizzy, all the blood rushing to her head from being upside down. The Death Watch had loaded some sort of debris into a forcefield in front of her,

"Yes sir, turn on the machine," the first man instructed, pointing to the one in front of the control panel. "Time for the Jedi to meet their fatal accident."

"With pleasure," the second replied smugly, pressing a few buttons to turn on the machine, she jolted as the conveyor belt started moving, loud pounding echoed as two thick durasteel plates smashed together. The debris in front of her went first, being smashed to bits between the plates, she struggled harder,

"This isn't good," she whispered, as she attempted to free herself, the Mandalorians were taking pleasure in watching her squirm as she tried to avoid her impending death.

"Where exactly are you?" the Duchess's voice sounded from the comlink,

"Listen for the loud metallic clanking sound," Obi-Wan shot back sarcastically, "That would be the machine about to smash us into bits!" A loud alarm began to blare,

"Master!" Esinon shouted more panickedly, trying with all her might to wrench free of her restraints as the smashing plates grew closer.

"There's some kind of disturbance at the front entrance, let's check it out," the two men ran off, soon Satine arrived,

"Well, it certainly took you long enough," Obi-Wan huffed,

"You know I haven't saved you yet," she snapped,

"Forget me, save my padawan!" Esinon continued to struggle, she was getting tired and her muscles screamed out for her to quit struggling and accept her fate.

"Be patient," she said, climbing the ladder to the control panel,

"I'm running a little short on that right now," Obi-Wan shot back, Esinon was almost inside the machines, only a few more feet, she scrunched her eyes shut, as she grew closer and closer to hyperventilating, "Satine, turn the machine off!" he shouted, more urgently, about to watch his padawan meet a gruesome death.

"I'm trying!"

"Satine!" Esinon moved into the machine, the plates recoiling to smash again,

"Alavidā Master," she murmured, they began to come back together, but froze, shifting back apart, the machine had turned off! And just in time, she let out a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived, seeing as there was a large rotating grinder ahead of her. "Come on!" She shouted, thrashing with even more ferocity.

"Look out!" Obi-Wan shouted, the two Mandalorians were back and had grabbed Satine, the machine halted her and started blinking in anticipation of releasing the young Jedi into her death. Satine saw, kicking a metal canister into the grinder, the machine coughing and sputtering, Esinon was released and pushed off the canister, vaulting herself to safety. She kicked the Mandalorian that was holding Satine in the face, and her Master swiftly took care of the other. "Esinon, are you alright?" Obi-Wan asked, searching his padawan for injury, she shoved his shoulder,

"I hate your loth cat." she grouched,

"Glad to see you're ok." Satine was already in the lift, waiting for the Jedi.

"For people sworn to peace, you both take unseemingly pleasure in the injuries of others." Satine huffed, redoing her hair. Esinon restrained herself from rolling her eyes and settled for a well-placed scowl.

"For a woman sworn to nonviolence, you don't seem bothered that my padawan was almost killed." Obi-Wan shot back,

"But she wasn't. I still haven't heard any thanks." How her Master could stand this woman was beyond her at this point. She seemed nice when they first met, but this was starting to get annoying. She did realize that she had just almost died? Satine wasn't in life-threatening danger three seconds ago.

"Well you certainly haven't changed much," the door whooshed open, a Mandalorian standing guard. Obi-Wan quickly landed two punches, taking him out, Esinon looked around, this wasn't familiar.

"Uh, Master, this is not the way we came in," she said,

"I can see that," he replied, Esinon could see three more Mandalorians across the way, Obi-Wan frantically began pressing the button to close the blast doors, they weren't working, it was always something, wasn't it? The three men on the other side took aim and began to fire, Esinon dove out of the way as bolts whizzed past her head, Satine and Obi-Wan joined her behind the rock she had chosen as cover. The lift they had just been in flew back down in a fiery blaze, "We'll have to stand and fight." Obi-Wan declared, "Well in your case just stand," Satine rolled her eyes, he reached for his lightsaber, which he quickly realized was not at his side.

"You three-stop them!" one of them shouted, the Mandalorians took off with jetpacks towards them. Esinon scanned the ground looking for any sort of weapon when she spotted a blaster off to her right, she called it into her hand.

"You sure you can handle that?" Satine asked, Esinon rolled her eyes, she took aim, firing a few shots before landing one on the shoulder of a Mandalorian. She ducked back behind the rock,

"Yes, I'm sure," Esinon snapped, she looked over to the unconscious Mandalorian, "Master," she pointed to the jetpack, he nodded, grabbing it, she whipped back out around the rock as Obi-Wan flung the jetpack in the air. With the marksmanship of an ARC trooper, she fired, exploding the jetpack, taking out the final two. A cloud of dust fell over them, and Esinon kept her finger on the trigger trying to see through the film of dust. A man leapt out, tackling her to the ground, aiming the blaster at her heart.

"You there!" Satine shouted, throwing a rock at him, Obi-Wan jumped in front of Satine as the man fired a few shots, landing one on Obi-Wan's shoulder. Esinon kicked his feet out from under him from her position on the ground. She then kicked him in the stomach, she rushed back over to the rock,

"Master?" she asked panicked,

"We're alright," he said, as Satine cradled his head, the shot wound didn't look fatal, and he was still awake, that was a good sign. She peeked back out from their hiding place, to see four more Mandalorians marching towards them, one in a billowing cape, he must be their clan leader. The warrior she had just defeated was struggling to get back up, the leader pulled out a blaster,

"Failure," he spat, blasting him through the head. Esinon gripped the blaster tighter as she peeked out around the rock, only revealing one of her big brown eyes. She could see both their lightsabers swinging at the leader's side, she stepped out from behind their cover and stood her ground. She scrunched her fists, releasing them, repeating this process, deep breath in, deep breath out, she can do this. The man chuckled, "And they send a child to protect them." He pulled his helmet off to reveal the hardened face of Pre-Vizsla.

"Governor?" Satine asked,

"For generations, my ancestors fought proudly as warriors against the Jedi. Now that woman tarnishes the very name Mandalorian." He tossed her her lightsaber, along with her Master's, she tossed her Master's saber to him, just in case someone tried to get to them. "Defend her if you will, her and your Master." She ignited her lightsaber swinging it around her body before settling into her ready stance, Vizsla tossed away his cape, grabbing a sword hilt from his belt. "This lightsaber was stolen from your Jedi temple," How much longer was he gonna talk before they fight? 'Cause she was ready.

He ignited it, a pure black blade appearing, drawing all the light to it from the surrounding area. "By my ancestors during the fall of the old Republic. Since then, many Jedi have died upon its blade. Prepare to join them." Vizsla leaped into the air, bringing his blade down savagely, she blocked it, pushing him back. They fell into an extremely fast block and attack stage, Vizsla swept under her feet and she jumped up and blocked his blade as he attempted to slash her. Esinon's movements were graceful and Vizsla was becoming more and more aggressive as he realized he was being beaten by a child.

He brought his blade down in a hard swing which fell into slow motion in Esinon's eyes as she went into what Anakin called "Speedy time" or when she sped up enough to where everything was slow motion. As she dodged the blade, she saw Vizsla reeling back to stab her, she swiftly caught his hand holding the blade as everything fell back into real-time.

He attempted to punch her, which she dodged, a few more seconds of him failing to hit the speedy Jedi, she finally had enough and used the force to shove him back into his men. They caught him and he wrenched free of their grip, and he charged her again releasing a primal scream. She ducked his swipe, which brought him to his knees, she rammed her knee into his face, before whipping around and landing a swift kick to his jaw, sending his blade flying out of his hand.

She got distracted for a brief second by the flying weapon, and he took that opportunity to sock her right in the stomach, significantly winding her. He grabbed her arm that was holding her lightsaber and held her as he proceeded to repeatedly kick and punch her. He threw her, hard, into the air, she crashed into the ground, curling her body as she tried to force the pain that was ripping through every inch of her being.

"Trust in the force," she heard a voice whispered, she whipped her eyes open. Who said that? "Get up, I know you can." She obeyed, forcing herself to her feet as the whine of a jetpack filled her ears. Stupid Vizsla using all his toys. The lightsaber-wielding Mandalorian flew into the air, reading to slash the blade right through her neck, but she wasn't ready to die. Not yet.

She leaped into the air, landing multiple punches to his face in the air, before grabbing his chest plate and whipping him around her body and throwing him to the ground. Give him a taste of his own medicine. She landed gracefully, flicking dust off of her shoulder. Vizsla glared at her with such intense hatred, but she stood her ground, despite the pounding fear in the back of her head.

"Warriors! Finish her!" he cried, the three Mandalorians stepped forward, pressing a few buttons on their gauntlets before bending over. Missiles. That wasn't good. She fell back into Speedy time as the missiles fired, she gracefully dodged each of the rockets, much to Vizsla's dismay, she came back into real-time to see the missiles coming back around,

"Master…" Esinon shouted, Obi-Wan ignored his wound, grabbing Satine close, hopping into the lift cavern, Esinon on his tail, they tumbled out of the cavern as an explosion raged over their heads. She took a minute to breathe before rolling over, the soreness of the recent battle setting in.

"That's my little runner," she heard a voice say, she sighed closing her eyes.

"Esinon, Esinon, are you alright?" Obi-Wan called, shaking her shoulder, she opened her eyes, turning to look at him.

"I kicked his butt, coward deserved it too." she groaned, shoving herself into a sitting position.

"You certainly did, I'm very proud of you," he said, smiling down at his padawan, and she smiled back up at her Master.

**A few minutes later…**

"I guess we're even then," Satine said, finally letting go of Obi-Wan as she helped him onto a speeder,

"Ah, how so?" Obi-Wan asked,

"I saved your life, you saved mine."

"Yes, well, mine was the more daring of the two rescues," he said,

"And mine was more daring than both of yours combined. You're welcome." Esinon said, jumping onto a speeder and taking off.

"She takes after you ya know," Satine said, climbing onto her own speeder,

"Mmm, she takes more after Qui-Gon than you know," he replied, a sad smile washing over his face thinking of his fallen Master,

"He would be proud of you Obi." Satine said Obi-Wan nodded his head, "Well, we better hurry if we want to catch up with your padawan."

"I suppose we should," he jumped onto his own speeder and they took off side by side.

**The next day…**

"But if Pre-Vizsla fled, we have no way of learning how widespread Death Watch is," Merrick said as they walked towards the waiting ship that would take them to Coruscant. Satine had to testify before the Senate to prove she wasn't in cohorts with the Separatists. Both Jedi had been patch up after their skirmish with the Death Watch, Esinon sport a bacta patch and bandages over her right hand, and Obi-Wan bandages over his shoulder.

"It's obvious the Separatists are supporting the Death Watch," Obi-Wan said,

"I disagree," Satine said, whipping around, a scowl on her face.

'_Here we go.'_ Esinon thought to herself.

"I told you I wanted to stay out of this conflict." Satine snapped,

"Duchess, given the current situation, that may no longer be an option," Esinon said, finally speaking up,

"I'm afraid my padawan is correct," Obi-Wan said,

"I thought you of all people would understand my position on this matter. I will never be a part of this war!" Satine turned on her heel and walked towards the cruiser. Esinon sighed, it was gonna be a long ride home. She spotted Anakin and about five troopers including Rex, and Cody walking towards them.

"Reporting for escort duty, General," he said,

"Oh, Anakin, am I glad to see you." Obi-Wan greeted,

"Hmm, you sound tired," Anakin remarked,

"The peaceful ways of the locals wore me out a little bit," he replied,

"I almost died, like four times. It was awesome." Esinon said, marching towards the ship, getting weird looks from the clone troopers, Cody instantly recognized that as an 'I'm pretty rattled by what happened, but I'm ignoring it right now,' Esinon statement.

"Wait up Commander!" he called, catching up with the young Scipian, they walked to a secluded part of the ship, "Alright, I'd recognize the 'I don't fear death' statement anywhere, what happened?"

"Ya know what? I'm upset!" she huffed, "I'm not expecting her to say thank you every time I deflect a blaster bolt for her, but I almost died. Four times! The most she did was throw a rock at a Mandalorian, and where did that get us? With my Master shot! I fought Pre-Vizsla to keep her safe, and I haven't heard one word of thanks!" Esinon began to frustratedly pace the floor, muttering under her breath in Ewok,

"Who didn't thank you Commander?" he asked, trying to calm the frustrated Jedi,

"The Duchess," she growled, "I almost died in an explosion, got shot at by a Death Watch associate, and when he took his own life, she blamed it on me, then I almost get smashed to bits by a machine on her planet's moon, and she barely saved me and then is asking for thanks. I fought Pre-Vizsla and all of his goons, dodged missiles, and still managed to save both her and my Master, and where does that get me? With no thanks! Of any kind! Not even like a kind smile! How hard is it to say, thank you Esinon for almost dying while protecting me from this terrorist group I've been ignoring? If anything this is her fault." she ranted,

"Deep breath Commander," he said, she finally listened, "I know you're upset, and by your description, you have every right to be very angry, but we do have a job to do." she nodded,

"Thanks, Cody," he nodded as they went back to rejoin the group.

**A few minutes later…**

They were standing in the cargo hold of the ship, the three Jedi standing in front of the team of troopers, a mix of 501st and 212th.

"The safety of the Duchess is of the utmost importance. The Death Watch will stop at nothing to assassinate her before she pleads her case to the Senate." Obi-Wan explained,

"The Death Watch may be backed by the Separatists, so stay sharp." Esinon added, "Spinner, use your scanners to probe for any suspicious droid activity."

"_Got it," _he replied,

"Anything else sir?" Rex asked,

"No, I think that covers everything," she replied, the troopers snapped to attention for a brief second before leaving, Obi-Wan's comlink beeped,

"Yes?"

"The Duchess and her retinue request your presence." a voice on the other end replied,

"Very well," they all entered the elevator heading to the higher levels of the ship. Esinon could sense all sorts of anxiety coming from Obi-Wan but so could Anakin,

"I sense some anxiety from you about the Duchess. She couldn't be in safer hands." Anakin said, trying to relieve his former Master's worried mind.

"Yes, I know,"

"Then why…"

"Nevermind. It's all in the past." Obi-Wan said, quickly, giving Anakin the cue to quit probing about it, except Anakin didn't listen.

"Oh, so you're close to her?"

"I knew her," Obi-Wan snapped, "A long time ago." Anakin cocked an eyebrow, hiding a sly smile. Esinon sighed shaking her head, could she order the Captian to fly faster? Probably not, oh well, might as well settle in for the long ride that lay ahead of her.

**A few minutes later…**

The doors to the Duchess's quarters wooshed open, to a room full of droids, senators, and guards.

"As designated regent of 1,500 systems, I speak for thousands of worlds that have urged me to allow them to stay neutral in this war." Satine declared,

"And yet some might argue that the strongest defense is a swift and decisive offense," Obi-Wan said as they entered the room.

"You are quite the General now, aren't you Master Kenobi?" she asked a little harshly,

"Forgive me for interrupting, your highness. I mean no disrespect." Obi-Wan replied,

"Really? Senators I presume you are acquainted with the collection of half-truths and hyperbole that is known as Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Obi-Wan gave a nod to the curious senators around him,

"Your highness is too kind," he said, leave it to him to always have a comeback waiting in the wings.

"You're right, I am," Satine looked downcast for a moment, eliciting a confused but curious glance at Obi-Wan from Anakin.

"Allow me to introduce my fellow Jedi, Anakin Skywalker," Obi-Wan said, breaking the awkward silence.

"Your servant, my lady," Anakin said, bowing,

"I remember a time when Jedi were not Generals, but peacekeepers. Sending children to fight in their war." Satine said, motioning to Esinon. She sighed,

"Esinon is perfectly capable-" Obi-Wan began,

"Perfectly capable of speaking for herself. Esinon," Satine cut in, all eyes shifted to the young Scipian Jedi. Every bone in her body cried out for her to say for them to leave her out of their constant bickering.

"I have my duty, Duchess, and sometimes to attain peace, conflict arises," she replied calmly,

"But isn't your job to keep the peace, to keep conflict from arising in the first place?" Satine asked,

"It's a nice sentiment, but unfortunately not a realistic one. We are protectorates, yours at the moment." Esinon said, "We are acting in the best interest of Your Highness to protect you from Death Watch and the Separatists who don't share your neutral point of view. I as much as you wish this conflict would come to a swift end, but at this current point in time, there are people who want you dead. So please, just let us do our job."

"Spoken with maturity beyond her years," Senator Ta remarked, before being rudely interrupted by Satine,

"Protectorates? I asked for no such thing," she snapped,

"That may be so, but the majority of your council did," Obi-Wan interjected,

"I do not remember you as one to hide behind excuses," Satine said,

"And I do not remember you as one to shrink from responsibility." Obi-Wan shot back, Senator Ta stepped between the two of them making an attempt to break the tension,

"Duchess Satine and General Kenobi have proven there are two sides to every dilemma."

"Indeed," Merrick added,

"Now in regard to the Senate vote, we think-" Senator Ta began,

"I think a multitude creates discord, not good council," Satine interjected, geez, could this woman let someone else speak for two seconds without trying to eat them alive?

"Right again my lady," Obi-Wan had quite huffily taken a spot next to his padawans,

"There may be two sides to every dilemma, but the Duchess only favors hers," he muttered, mostly to himself, but Esinon and Anakin both nodded.

**20 minutes later…**

Esinon had been mentally willing her comlink to beep for the last twenty minutes. She needed an excuse to leave, and if she said on the grounds of, 'I need to go to the bathroom' they would expect her quick return. At the moment she was trying her best to tune out the Senators, Duchesses, and Obi-Wans that were arguing about politics she didn't understand, while Anakin had a quite satisfied grin on his face, half-way into a glass of wine. She was resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose as a headache was starting to pound at the forefront of her mind. She needed Tylenol and a nap, preferably in that order. She finally snapped back to reality with a sharp probe in her mind from her Master, he finally noticed she had been spacing out.

"A Republic military presence is the only sure defense against the Separatists," Obi-Wan said, turning his attention back to Satine. The Duchess stood up on her platform,

"Even extremists can be reasoned with." Esinon let out a barely audible groan, yeah, tell that to the Mandalorians that had beat up a fourteen-year-old the other day. Let's see how that reasoning goes when your head gets taken off by a dark saber, hmm?

"Perhaps if one can be heard over the clanking of their battle droids?" Obi-wan was now marching towards the pedestal, Satine was on her way down to meet him.

"Ah, the sarcasm of a soldier," Satine bit,

"The delusion of a dreamer," he shot back, they were now inches apart, glaring icily into one another's eyes.

"Duchess, Master Jedi, it's been a long trip. I think we could all use a little rest and refreshment." Merrick interjected, finally, a way out!

"Hear hear," Senator Ta agreed, "Let's put politics until after dinner." With the Senator mention of dinner, Esinon realized how hungry she was, stupid metabolism.

"Fine!" Satine and Obi-Wan snapped in unison. The Duchess shoved past Obi-Wan stalked out of the room. Her posse of Senators and guards following after, not that she exactly wanted to have to dinner with a bunch of stuffy Senators, and her Master and Satine bickering like an old married couple, at least she could distract herself with food, and hopefully, that would be enough to keep everyone from dragging them into their conversations.

"So you and Satine have a history?" Anakin asked as the three of them walked down the hallway,

"Yes, an extended mission on Mandalore when I was younger." This, this was it! The backstory she needed, she quickened her pace, getting right next to Obi-Wan listening intently, "Master Qui-Gon and I spent a year on Mandalore protecting the Duchess from insurgents who had threatened her world." They stepped into an elevator, "They sent bounty hunters after us. We were always on the run, living hand-to-mouth, never sure what the next day would bring." This story was starting to sound a lot like the dreams she had been having.

"Sounds romantic," Anakin remarked with a very smug grin on his face, what was with him today? Obi-Wan sighed,

"Anakin,"

"Master, were you ever injured while on Mandalore? Like severely?" she asked, tentatively, his brow furrowed in concentration,

"Yes, I believe I was, the bounty hunters attacked our camp and I got caught in the explosion. Master Qui-Gon was away at the time. Next thing I remember was waking up in a bush and Master Qui-Gon taking me back to a ship." he replied, "Why?"

"I was just curious… building a mental file on Death Watch and Mandalorian warriors in general," she said quickly, that was the exact dream she had had after Geonosis. Her comlink beeped, it was Rex, why couldn't he have called her like five minutes ago? "Yes, Captain?"

"Sir, there's something wrong with your astromech,"

"I have been testing out new programs with him, something might have glitched out," she replied,

"Whatever it was, scared him real good. I've lost contact with two of my men,"

"I'm on my way down to assist you," Obi-Wan replied,

"Hang on, it's my droid, I'll go handle it. Have fun at dinner," she said, as soon as the door of the elevator opened, the speedster was gone. Finally, an excuse to leave, no more stuffy senators, and bickering Obi-Wans and Duchesses. The only problem with this excuse to leave is it probably meant something dangerous was wandering around down there, which meant more dead troopers on her hands. She strolled into the cargo hold, to be greeted by a bunch of clones.

"Alright men, what's the problem? I'm missing dinner," she teased,

"We're not sure yet sir," Cody said, "but there's still no sign of Mixer and Redeye." Spinner came forward, wobbling on his legs and frantically beeping in binary so fast she could barely understand him.

"What's wrong buddy?"

"_There was a big monster and it almost got me! I'm so scared and I don't wanna die!" _Spinner wailed,

"I know, I know, but I'm here now," she said, rubbing his head, "Use your scanners, see if something's out of place." Spinner took off with newfound courage with his friend by his side and started scanning the area. They walked around the rows of shipping carts and freight containers, Spinner flashed his lights over a large, empty, shipping container. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

"Looks like the contents of this box are missing," Rex remarked, she paused thinking, rubbing her fingers over her crystal.

"Or maybe it got up and walked away." she murmured, she turned to the troops. "Alright, fan out. Separate squads, I'll contact Master Kenobi and Skywalker." She pressed her comlink as soon as she was alone,

"Esinon, what have you found?" Obi-Wan asked,

"Well, there's a large open container, and it's contents are missing. And I still have two men unaccounted for," she replied,

"That's not good, keep things quiet. I'll stay with the Senators."

"Got it,"

"Stay safe padawan mine," he said,

"I will," Spinner twittered as he passed by her, she smiled trotting after her astromech. "Did you find anything?" They walked down the dark corridors for a few more minutes, passing under flickering fluorescent lights. A pair of clone feet appeared out of the darkness a few seconds later, she recognized the blue tips to be Redeye, she breathed a sigh of relief, he was alright. "There you are, Redeye, where have you been? You had us all worried." The clone staggered forward slowly, wait, was he injured? "Redeye…" An eerie whirring noise filled her ears, she couldn't sense life coming from the trooper, she ignited her blue blade as a series of piercing ruby red eyes stared at her from the darkness.

The dead clone was launched forward at her, she dodged, gripping her blade tightly. A large spider-shaped droid climbed down the wall, rows upon rows of red eyes staring at her. Assassin droid.

The creature studied her for a moment before charging forward, two of its gangly metal legs extended for his throat. She sidestepped, swiftly slashing through three of its legs, sending it skidding into a pile of boxes, it grabbed two boxes, hurtling them at the small Jedi, she didn't move in time and was knocked to the floor. She slowly pushed herself upward, the soreness of her battle with Pre-Vizsla making it harder to get up.

The droid crawled forward ready to vanquish the Jedi before it, blue blaster bolts came flying out at the creature from the darkness. She looked behind her to see Rex, Cody, and a team of clones charging forward, the droid crumpling under the fire. Rex offered a hand to her, helping her up,

"You know kid, you scare me sometimes," he sighed,

"I scare me sometimes," she teased, she heard the tapping of droid feet, she whipped around to see another assassin heading for the lift, "The lift!" Before they could even react the droid had already pried the door open and was crawling towards the top. She dashed to the lift, preparing to launch herself up after it, before realizing there were two Jedi knights up there. She pressed her comlink contacting Obi-Wan, "Master, there's assassin probes down here, one made it up the lift, I'll try and hold the others here." She turned her attention back to her men, "Ok, deep breath everybody," That was mostly for her, "Let's spread out and find the last one."

"Look out!" Cody yelled, she whipped around to the defeated assassin droid to see it spouting tiny babies, seriously? She couldn't catch a break, could she? She ignited her lightsaber as the flow of baby droids continued to spout out of the mother,

"Spinner! Attack mode!" Esinon shouted, knowing her absent astromech would hear her cry for help. They began to leap into the air, reaching for any of them to kill, blaster bolts flew towards the ground as Esinon slashed them with her saber,

"They're everywhere!" Rex yelled, trying to fend off the tiny assailants.

"Everybody get behind me!" she shouted, leaping in front of her troops. She pushed forward, slashing through the babies as fast as she could, she heard a pained scream from behind her, she saw Koho falling underneath the babies. She went into a phase tackling the trooper, the droids falling right through their phasing bodies. She couldn't keep this up much longer, "Spinner!" she screamed, a loud mechanical scream emitted from behind her, she looked up to see her trusty droid rushing the babies will all sorts of electrical probes. She leaped back up slashing through the remaining droids, "Everybody ok?" A chorus of yes's responded, "Alright, good work everybody."

"_Hey, what about me?" _Spinner beeped,

"Good work little buddy, stationary mode." The astromech's light flashed back to green, the probes retracting.

"Assassin droid," Rex muttered, looking around at the wreckage, "How did one of those monsters end up in the hold?"

"Question is, who smuggled him on board?" she said,

**A few minutes later…**

"I'm looking for the droid that services the cargo bay," Esinon said to the silver protocol droid standing in front of her.

"Uh, yes sir, are all those creatures dead?" It asked, getting up and fetching a datapad.

"That's what I'm trying to find out," she replied, "You're in charge of the cargo manifest, right?"

"Uh, yes, I have it right here."

"Well, where did they come from?" Esinon asked, a little bit aggressively, she wanted to show this droid who was boss in case they were in cohorts with whoever smuggled the droids on board.

"It's right here on the manifest," the droid said, holding out the datapad, she snatched it out of its hands and started scanning the list.

"For immediate delivery to Coruscant: one container marked medical supplies," she mumbled, she scanned to the side for a name of authorization. "There's no name on this chart! There's no indication of who shipped it."

"No sir, just the Senate stamp, always accepted for transport here aboard the Coronet." the droid replied,

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon walked into the now mostly destroyed dining room where Anakin and Obi-Wan were waiting. She handed over the datapad to Obi-Wan,

"One of our four distinguished Senators appears to be a traitor," she said, motioning to the Senate stamp on the box that the droid had come out of.

"I sense it too," he said, well, you didn't need to sense this kind of thing, the evidence was right there, but whatever. Obi-Wan turned his eyes over to a baby droid, chirping and skittering across the floor. A straggler. "It looks like one of our little visitors is still alive. I have an idea of how to expose the turncoat. Return to the hull of the ship, destroy the last assassin droids. I'll find out which of the Senators is the traitor." he said, passing her the datapad, she gave a nod,

**Twenty minutes later…**

Esinon crept slowly along the dark corridors of the ship's cargo hull, they had found the droid, but unfortunately lost it. She was currently trying to find it before it found her.

"Esinon, Tal Merrick is the traitor," Obi-Wan's panicked voiced arose out of her comlink, "And he's taken Satine hostage,"

"Copy that, but I've got my own problems right now," she shot back in a hushed tone, gripping her lightsaber more firmly. She snuck around another corner, "Cody, Rex, have you found anything?"

"All quiet over here sir," Cody whispered back, a few more seconds passed, as her eyes shifted along the rows of boxes cascaded by azure light from her blade- "AHH!" An ear-piercing scream sounded from her right, Cody. She took off at top speed, she skidded around a corner to see both Cody and Rex struggling to pull the little baby droids off of themselves, with precise slashes of her lightsaber she killed both of the droids, leaving the spinning half-spheres smoking on the ground. Spinner took care of the last one on Rex's wrist with a little jolt of electricity,

"Thanks, little guy," Rex said, patting Spinner's head,

"Well, we found all the little ones, what about the mama?" she asked,

"Haven't seen it," Rex replied, too little, too late, the mama droid shrieked, ramming Rex in the chest, and throwing Esinon into a shelf in the process, she blinked her eyes a few times, trying to keep from blacking out. She pushed herself to her feet, running over to Rex, who seemed unharmed, the mama was busy climbing the walls.

"I don't know if this gonna work, but here goes nothing!" she shouted, she threw her saber with a little tailspin up towards the droid, she landed a hit, slashing two of its legs. The droid fell to the ground, Rex rushing over and quickly vanquishing the creature. He gave her a nod as she called her saber back to her hand, she paused for a second before remembering everything that was currently happening upstairs. "Troopers! Let's go! There's a new problem!" she shouted, running towards the lift, picking up any troopers who were still wandering around the cargo hold. She frantically pressed the button trying to get the doors to close faster as they all crammed inside the lift. It was an agonizing ride up, and the lift was moving way slower than she wanted. The doors finally opened and she was already sprinting down the hallway, the troops closer on her tail, she turned around, running backward, "I want troopers at every exit and escape pod! No one leaves this ship!"

"Sir yes sir!" they replied, before turning around and taking off to follow her orders, she whipped back around, rounding a corner, where she quickly met up with Obi-Wan,

"Did you find them?" he asked,

"No, but I stationed troopers at every escape pod," she said,

"Merrick will try to signal his allies for help, we have to find him." the two Jedi took off running and into another lift. The ship jolted, they were coming out of hyperspace, the doors to the lift opened and a series of loud crashes sounded, along with the pounding of droids feet, well, Merrick's reinforcements had arrived.

"I'll take care of this, go find you're bickering partner," she said, taking off with a squad of clones,

"Esinon she's not-" he called, before giving up and running off. The adrenaline took over from there as she ignited her lightsaber, giving herself a boost of speed as she sprinted down the corridors of the _Coronet. _She could hear the battle now, the loud blaster fire, she skidded around the corner to see Anakin already in the thick of battle. Typical Anakin. She leaped onto the wall, pushing off and slashing through the nearest B2, she continued at lightning speed, pushing down the hallway. She swiped her saber through the legs of one and deflected a blaster bolt into another, soon she had made it to the final three which she shoved into the wall using the force, she replaced her saber onto her belt and disappeared as quickly as she had arrived. Anakin was close on her tail,

"We have to find Obi-Wan now," he said,

"We've gotta hurry before Merrick kills the Duchess," she said, even if the Duchess was annoying and only argued with everyone, she still deserved to be alive as much as she did. They skidded around another corner to see Merrick and Obi-Wan, Satine off to the side, holding a blaster in her trembling hands,

"I've got this," Anakin whispered before she could blink Anakin had already shoved his lightsaber through Merrick's back, killing him instantly, Esinon covered her mouth to keep the screams inside, how could Anakin do that? Yes, Merrick was a traitor, but how could he just kill another lifeform in cold blood? Satine flung the blaster away in disgust, it was like her body physically rejected weapons. Was it the same way Ahsoka's body physically rejected caf?

"Anakin," Obi-Wan muttered, replacing his saber on his belt,

"What? He was gonna blow up the ship," Anakin said, not at all phased by what he had just done. Esinon made her way over to her Master,

"Master, are you alright?"

"I'm ok padawan mine, what about you?"

"Fine," she replied, Cody and Rex, ducked under the probes of the ships that had released the B2s.

"General Skywalker, Commander Windcaster, the last of the droids have been defeated sirs," Cody informed them,

"Very good Cody," Anakin praised, Esinon gave a sigh of relief, it was finally over. She could rest as soon as they got the temple, she was gonna sleep for a week.

**Coruscant…**

The catwalk lowered, letting everyone out, the Chancellor and his guards were there waiting. She, Obi-Wan, and Anakin all gave a bow of respect,

"A job well done Master Jedi," he said,

"Thank you, Chancellor," Obi-Wan replied,

"Padawan Windcaster, may I speak with you for a moment?" the Chancellor asked,

"Of course," she gave a bow to her Master before leaving with the Chancellor,

"Now that you are back on Coruscant, I wanted to have dinner with you and your parents, to get a feel for them as Senators. I thought it only fitting you be there," he explained, she gritted her teeth for a minute, seriously? Why was he pushing this? Can't say no to the Chancellor can you though.

"I think that's a wonderful idea," she lied if he could tell he didn't show it.

"Lovely, how does tomorrow night sound?"

"Perfect," she replied,

"Well then, I look forward to it," he said, patting her shoulder and smiling gently.

"Me too your excellency," she said, giving a bow and walking towards her Master, she paused seeing Satine was in front of him, her hand rubbing his beard gently. Was there something more between them than friendship? Hang on, this is Obi-Wan Kenobi we're talking about. The Jedi's poster child, her Master, one of the most powerful and perfect Jedi ever. Maybe there had been something more between them, but it was obvious he had cut it off. He was here, training her, but that little voice in the back in her head kept whispering, _He'll abandon you. It's only a matter of time. _Everyone in her life had always left, she didn't want her Master to be next, Obi-Wan turned his head to see her as Satine walked away to the waiting transport. She quickly walked over to him, "What was that all about?" she asked, trying to cover up her anxieties about what she had just witnessed.

"Don't worry padawan mine, I'm not going anywhere," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder,

* * *

**Hey everybody! Here's a translation for you, Alavidā means goodbye**

**Alright I need some help. So I'm trying to work on a clone legion and I need to know how many Captains a Jedi can have. Because Rex is Captain of Torrent Company, but Torrent Company isn't the only company in the 501st if I'm understanding correctly. But Rex looks like he's the head honcho even though another Commander is never dictated after Ahsoka leaves, and a legion can only have one commander, but how many Captains? I just want to know how many I'm allowed. If anyone knows, PM me or leave it in the reviews, thank you!**

**Another quick thing, awhile ago I wrote a crossover called Clairvoyance, which I'm deleting because it's not my best work, along with the original Windcaster. That's when I was first learning how to be a writer and it was good practice. I'm really bored during this quarantine and was wondering if at some point you'd like to see a Star War and Avengers crossover with Esinon. (Sorry, she's my favorite and my baby and I can't imagine star wars without her.) It would be set around the time of Age of Ultron and Civil War. I'll probably end up writing it for fun even if I don't post it, but if you want more Esinon content (Because you know she, Shuri, and Peter would be so chaotic) this is the perfect opportunity for that! And also I don't know about anybody else, but I've been reading a lot of fanfics lately and have exhausted all my options, so if you're like me and need more content I WILL PROVIDE. So let me know in the reviews, **

**That may or may not have been spurred on by me rewatching Civil War with my sister. ;) **

**Ok crazy info dump end! Love you all! **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: Since Ahsoka has heightened senses, she's not allowed to have caf because it basically sends into a hyper craze where nothing short of a sedative can calm her until the caffeine has run its course. Anakin learned his lesson the hard way.**

**Thank you for reading! Make sure to leave a review! **


	19. The Mandalore Plot

**So i know I post every Tuesday and Friday, but I might have to go to only posting on Fridays because I'm running out of pre-written chapters and I want to make sure they are all the best quality so I can get the proper character development. Also I have a whole bunch of big projects for my finals instead of tests, so I've gotta get those done too, and school comes first (I wish it didn't) So we'll see if I have to slow down on posting, I'm not sure yet. **

* * *

**The next day…**

The door to the apartment opened, Anakin glanced up to see a sweat-soaked Esinon standing in the doorway, she said she was going to do some training… that looked intense.

"What happened to you?" he asked, she panted for a few seconds catching her breath, her hands on top of her head.

"I… am training… to be… an ARC trooper," she panted,

"An ARC trooper?" Anakin asked slowly,

"Yeah, Echo and Fives are training me," she said, making her way to the fridge,

"And you're doing this, why?" he asked, ARC training sucked, he had watched some of the drills Fives and Echo had run to keep up with their training, and that stuff was rigorous.

"I dunno, good distraction I guess. It's also making me crazy strong. Today we were working on my stamina so I can run at top speed for longer." she said, filling a glass with water from the sink and taking a sip,

"And what exactly are you trying to distract yourself from?" Anakin inquired,

"A lot of things," she said, walking towards the fresher, dodging any further questions. What was trying to distract herself from? Her parents for starters, a baby sister that was supposed to be born in a couple months, the Chancellor's insistence on her having a relationship with them, the war, the Duchess, all those annoying politics, and her growing dread for dinner tonight. She flicked on the light to the fresher, staring at herself in the mirror. She took a deep breath, "Alright me, we can do this. Just get through tonight, one step at a time."

**That night…**

"I can't come out until after dinner, trust me, Thorn, I would love nothing more than to be on patrol," she said, into the comlink, struggling to zip up the back of her dress.

"Sir, I promise we'll be fine, it's only patrol," Thorn replied,

"Alright, well I'll see you after dinner," She ended the transmission, sighing as she finally resorted to using the force to zip up the back of her dress, she stared at herself in the mirror. It was traditional for Scipians to be dressed up for dinner since family was the utmost importance in her people's lives. It was a simple blue dress that had blue butterflies sewn in at varying places, Padme had taken her shopping earlier. She had her hair done in two space buns at the top of her head, and braids streaming out from them. Her thick hair filling the braids out fully, she sighed, "Here goes nothing."

**The Senate building...**

"Daniel! Do you know where I put-" Ava yelled from the other room,

"Nice plates? They're already on the table!" he shouted from the kitchen, his wife had been in an anxious huff all afternoon, and it wasn't because the Chancellor was having dinner with them. Ava came into the kitchen, well, more waddled into the kitchen, their baby was due in a couple months.

"How's it going in here?" she asked, he continued to slowly stir the gravy in the pot,

"Fine, Ava, take a deep breath, everything is going to be alright." he soothed,

"I know, I'm just nervous. She doesn't seem to like me very much when I call her," she said, rubbing the back of her wedding ring nervously,

"She's probably dealing with a lot, she is a Jedi Commander after all. Maybe after tonight she'll warm up to us," he said, there was a knock at the door, the two looked at each other, their daughter was here.

* * *

Esinon shifted her back and forth on her feet uncomfortably, she really didn't want to do this. Like at all. It was taking all of her willpower to not just bolt and disappear into the underworld of Coruscant, but she needed to face this, and she already told the Chancellor she would.

"Baby steps," she murmured to herself, she really wished she had time for Echo to give her one of his famous pep talks before- the door opened to her parents.

"Esinon! It's so great to see you, sweetheart," her mother exclaimed, she could already sense the woman's anxiety towards all of this, or maybe that was hers… maybe both. "Come in, come in," Esinon stepped into her parent's apartment, it was fancy. Fancier than the temple or her quarters on the _Negotiator, _then again, they weren't meant to be fancy, just functional. It was an open-air concept, down a set of stairs were a pair of couches which led out to a large balcony, with a fountain. Off to her left, there was a dining room and a kitchen where wonderful smells wafted out and filled her nose. Whatever was cooking smelled way better than whatever rations they served in the mess hall at the temple and on the _Negotiator. _

"So, where did you just get back from?" her father asked,

"Mandalore, can't give details, military confidentiality," she replied, he nodded,

"Mandalore is beautiful," she turned to him,

"You've been?"

"Oh yeah, before I met your mother, I used to travel from one end of this galaxy to another. I guess we have that in common," he said, nudging her playfully,

"Yeah, when I was little I used to spend a lot of time in the library looking at star charts and reading up about other planets, I wanted to-"

"See them all," they said in unison, she paused staring at her father, maybe he wasn't so bad.

"So what are you two chatty Kathy's talking about?" her mother teased from the kitchen,

"Oh just adventures from across the galaxy," he replied,

"Well, I can't wait to hear all about them," she said, coming back out from the kitchen, they started to make their way towards the couches, but Esinon accidentally bumped into her dad, dropping her comlink, he bent over to pick it up, but she realized a holo had projected. It was a picture of her, Fives, and Echo, shortly after the battle of Saleucami. Her dad passed it to her,

"Who's this?" he asked,

"My brothers," she replied, replacing the comlink on her glove. Her parents shared a quick glance, recognizing them as clones. She cleared her throat, uncomfortably if they wanted to know more about Fives and Echo, they could ask. They all sat in awkward silence for a few moments, the bantha in the room becoming heavier and heavier.

* * *

Daniel looked between the two women standing there, it was almost like they wanted to be a family, but it felt too broken. Their daughter was still, tentative and cold, keeping her distance. She had opened up for three seconds before shutting down again. The thought of abandonment hung in the air. He knew that they should have never given Esinon up, but then the Jedi would have come and taken her anyway. Now before him stood a Commander, who called clones her brothers. He was torn from his thoughts as there was another knock at the door,

"That must be the Chancellor," Ava said, making for the door. The three Windcasters stood together as the door opened, the Chancellor was greeted with what looked like a family, but the three of them knew it was broken in ways that couldn't be fixed.

**Twenty minutes later…**

The Chancellor and her parents had been talking about politics and she had been mostly quiet while they ate dinner, she was torn about whether to be happy about her comlink being quiet for the whole time because that meant no one was hurt, and they didn't need her right now, but then again, she really wanted out of here.

"So, Esinon, do you have any hobbies?" her mother asked,

"Hmm?" she looked up from her food, coming back from her spacing out, "Oh, I uh- I like pod racing. In my free time, I build little pod racers that Ahsoka, Xavier and I will play with from time to time. It helps me to keep up with fixing my starfighter."

"Who taught you how to build all those things? Are you taught that in your classes at the temple?" her dad asked,

"Some yeah, but I've always liked to mess with that kind of stuff. Plus when I'm bored I'll hang out in the hanger and Wrench will show me some different tricks for my fighter when he's pulling a double shift," she explained,

"So you're close with the clones?" Ava asked,

"Yeah, at first I was kind of intimidated because they are soldiers and I wanted to earn their respect, but I would and do trust them with my life, and I hope they feel the same way," she replied, her comlink buzzed loudly,

"We have a shooting in sector Gl-5." a robotic voice informed, Esinon's eyes went wide,

"I have to go, I'm so sorry," she said, quickly bidding goodbye and rushing out the door. She sprinted out into the whipped world of Coruscant at top speed, soon locating Commander Thorn who was already running after the shooter. "What happened?"

"Duchess Satine Kryze," Esinon almost trips,

"What?!" she exclaimed, quickly recovering, "The Duchess?"

"Yes sir, we're currently tracking her at the moment," Esinon could see a red-cloaked woman up ahead, with two police droids trailing her and the police cam still blaring,

"I'm going after her," she said, taking off through the crowds of people, moving as fast as they would allow her, which was nowhere near her top speed, and it was getting increasingly frustrating as the gap between her and the Duchess continued to get wider and wider. She finally managed to push past them but the Duchess was gone. "Srapa," She pressed her comlink, "I lost her, spread out and start asking civilians. Contact me if you find anything."

"Yes sir," Thorn replied, she sighed, why in the world would the pacifist Duchess, who rejected blasters like Ahsoka rejected caf kill someone? Either she had them all fooled or there was something else at play here. It would have to wait for the interrogation when they caught Satine,

**A few minutes later…**

"Have you seen this woman?" Esinon asked, holding up a hologram of the Duchess, the Rodian shook his head. "Alright, make sure to report it to the authorities if you do. Thank you." Not being in her robes made it a lot harder to do her job. She looked like any other topsider who had gotten lost in the underworld, without her looking like a Jedi, no one could really tell she was one.

"We've spotted her heading into an alley," Key reported, "Scratch that, she's escaping in a speeder, heading for section IG-44." Esinon took off for sector IG-43, she had a theory. She skidded to a halt at the alley, the Duchess had been sighted in last, sure enough, a red cape flicked around the corner, she took off after the Duchess, grabbing her arm.

"Duchess, what are you doing?" she asked, Satine backed up a little bit, her eyes darting around wildly, "You can't keep running,"

"They're trying to kill me," she whispered, the wailing of sirens was drawing closer, she wasn't supposed to do this, but…

"Come with me," she led the Duchess through the streets to an abandoned house she knew about, Key had told her about it since it was the place that the guard hunkered down in when they couldn't get back to the barracks for the night. She pressed the lightswitch the flickering fluorescent light illuminating a worn couch, a few bunk beds, and a small kitchenette. The Duchess looked extremely uncomfortable in the musty safe house, probably very different from the lavish palaces she was used to. Esinon, on the other hand, was used to using rocks for pillows and sleeping with one eye open. "I'm not supposed to be doing this, and if I get caught, I get in trouble too. So explain to me why you killed that man or prove to me that there's someone else at play here, or I'm calling Thorn." Satine paused for a moment, she proceeded to pull out a data card,

"This, this will prove I didn't kill Davu," Esinon called it to her hand, looking it over,

"What's on it?" she asked,

"At the Senate meeting, a fake recording was broadcasted, calling me and my government corrupt. This is the proper recording-" Sirens wailed outside, but soon faded, "I need to get it into safe hands. Whoever doctored this recording is likely in the government itself." she explained,

"If you step foot inside the Senate, or out of this safehouse they'll take you," Esinon said,

"And the disc will be destroyed before anyone can see it. You have to take the disc to Padme." More sirens wailed outside, Esinon could sense Thorn and the guard growing closer,

"We have to move, come on," she motioned to a window, which Esinon easily climbed out of it hopping down a stack of boxes, the Duchess followed after, she made her way down the crates. Esinon led her through the winding streets of the underworld until she could only faintly sense Thorn. "My next question is if I'm delivering this to the Senate, where will you be? Because Thorn and the guard are still looking for you."

"They won't find me, because I'm going to surrender myself. You'll need a distraction to enter freely. We can't run the risk of them searching you, just because your Master and I are associates." she cocked an eyebrow at the way Satine said associates, it's like she wanted it to be more. The hostile distrusting side of her started to creep it's way out. _She'll take your Master away from you. He'll abandon you for her. _It wasn't too late to call Thorn and arrest Satine right here. She shoved the feeling deep down and commanded herself to pull it together.

"I'm a Jedi. They wouldn't dare." Esinon fired back, besides the guard trusted her, they don't have any reason to not to.

"Things are changing, little one," she said softly, and continued to walk, if they wanted to continue to evade the guard, they needed to keep moving. A clink sounded as a sphere fell before her feet, beep, beep, beep, beep, bomb!

She used the force to shove Satine to a safe distance, she scrambled away, but not fast enough. BOOM! Esinon was thrown roughly to the ground, her ears filled with a loud high pitched whining making it hard to concentrate, she faintly recognized the noise of boots hitting the pavement, she quickly pushed herself up seeing the duchess sprinting away from a- Mandalorian.

She leaped to her feet, igniting her azure blade, he whipped around aiming the sniper at her heart, but she was faster slashing the nose of his blaster. He whapped her across the face with it. That's gonna leave a mark. He kicked her hand, throwing her saber out of her hand, time to use what little ARC training she had. She kneed him in the stomach, ignoring the pain from flesh hitting beskar.

Grabbing the crook of his arm and ramming him into the nearby wall, ripping her constricting dress in the process. She grabbed the blaster, throwing it with all her force over the nearby ledge. The Mandalorian pushed off against the wall, shoving her into the opposite one, she gasped for air as she blocked her face from savage punches.

She finally managed to land a punch against his face, knocking him back, he whipped out a blaster aimed for the exhausted padawan's heart. She wasn't finished yet before he could even blink, she tackled him throwing him out into the open as they wrestled for the blaster, the Mandalorian kicked her in the stomach throwing her over him. She hit the barrier between her and the raging streets below, hard. She groaned, everything hurts.

"Esinon!" The Duchess shouted, tossing her her lightsaber, and just in time, she deflected the yellow plasma bolts, rising to her feet. She whipped out her other hand using the force to smash the Mandalorian into a wall, before whipping him into a street sign. His jetpack kicked in and he took off, she was about to vault herself onto a speeder to chase after him when Satine grabbed her arm. "The Senate,"

"Right," they both took off running towards the Senate building.

**A few minutes later…**

She and the Duchess split up, the young Jedi avoiding the guards dressed in blue.

"I heard you're looking for me?" Satine asked Esinon shuffled her feet quietly as she shifted around the barrier. She ducked quickly past the guards as they were busy arresting Satine, she gave Esinon a nod as she darted into the Senate building. She sprinted through the mostly empty Senate halls, they must be about to enter a session, her comlink buzzed,

"Blur," she answered, she had taken up the mantle ever since the _Endurance. _

"Commander, we found the Duchess, where are you?" Thorn asked,

"I'm at the Senate building, Jedi emergency," she quickly lied, "Can't talk, you got it, bye!" She hung up before Thorn could get another word in, she skidded into the Naboo pod,

"Esinon?" Padme asked in confusion, at the breathless padawan, she held up the data card,

"Mandalore, they need to see it. The Duchess-" she rambled, Padme took the card and motioned to a seat,

"Take a deep breath, I'll handle this," she said, moving towards her control panel.

"The occupation of Mandalore will usher in a new level of security for the Republic and it's fight against corruption. If there are no objections-" the Chancellor continued,

"Supreme Chancellor, there has been a development in the case of Mandalore's neutrality," Padme said, standing there in all her regal glory. She was scary impressive at what she did,

"The chair recognizes the Senator from Naboo," the Chancellor said,

"I think this should cast new light on the so-called evidence we saw earlier." she placed the disc in her pod and a projection of a man appeared,

"The actions of our government have taken us into a period of civil war. To acknowledge it would be to invite panic in the streets. Death Watch is far stronger than we once thought. But we have been training for this. We can stop them. But if we are to combat them effectively we must have the temerity to stand strong in the name of peace. And if we are to do so, we must reject any Republic assistance. Instead, this government will act. It's not out of pride, but for safety. Intervention by the Republic will inflame the opposition. And this is why our government rejects the help of the Jedi. We must listen to Duchess Satine. If we do not, it will ultimately cause our defeat." The room filled with applause, Esinon glanced up at the Chancellor to see his face flicker from a glare to a soft smile, maybe she saw wrong, either way, it made her uneasy. Like there was something angry and dark behind the soft, elderly persona of the Chancellor. No. No. This is not the time for doubts, she has to trust the higher-ups. If she didn't, it could cost them the war.

**The next morning…**

Obi-Wan stood next to Anakin, a few feet away from Padme as the Chancellor approached them.

"Thankfully with the revelation of this new information, the occupation of Mandalore is no longer necessary." the Chancellor said,

"The person to thank is Duchess Satine, she found the proof," Padme replied,

"I require no thanks," Satine said, as she entered the room, Obi-Wan smiled softly, it was a relief to see she was ok, especially when it had been his padawan trying to arrest her last night. He had sense Esinon's growing frustration towards the Duchess, but he doubted she was actually upset with Satine, and more the other pressing matters the young padawan was dealing with at the moment."

"Satine, the senate held an emergency session, and Republic forces have been ordered to stand down," Padme informed her happily,

"Allow me to offer my most sincere apology on behalf of the entire Republic," the Chancellor said, "You are a most loyal servant and we are all grateful."

"Yes, grateful." Mas Amedda added, Satine gave them both a nod,

"Chancellor, Mas Amedda would join me for a moment. We have some logistics to discuss to finalize the Senate's decision." Padme said she, Mas Amedda, the Chancellor, and Anakin exited the room leaving Satine and Obi-Wan alone.

"I'm grateful to see you alright. How did you manage to escape the guards? And get your evidence to the Senate?" Obi-Wan asked,

"Your padawan, actually. Which is quite surprising, she doesn't seem to like me very much, so why she would help me is beyond me." Satine said, striding towards the window.

"Oh don't say that I'm sure Esinon will warm up to you. She's just… dealing with a lot right now." The return of Esinon's parents had definitely made his padawan irritable, to say the least.

"She took me to a Republic safe house, and saved me from a Death Watch insurgent, would you consider that warming up?" Satine asked as he joined her by the window.

"Esinon will help anyone who needs help, no matter what she thinks of them. It's in her nature," he replied, a silence fell over them.

"Obi," Satine said slowly, "Why doesn't Esinon like me?" Obi-Wan sighed, scratching at his beard.

"It's not that she doesn't like you… she's gotten this ridiculous idea in her head that I'm going to leave her for you. That's why she's gotten defensive… she used to people not sticking around." he said, thinking back to what she had said on Naboo. '_For coming back. No one's really done that for me before.' _

"And where did that come from?" she asked, Obi-Wan sighed, he didn't exactly understand why Satine was so desperate to get Esinon to like her. Perhaps it was the fact that she cared for him, and he cared for Esinon, so it somehow made her protective of the padawan even though Satine hardly knew Esinon.

"Have you met the two Senators from Scipio?"

"Yes, the Windcasters, lovely people really-"

"They're Esinon parents. They abandoned her on Endor." Satine's head snapped to look at him,

"They what?!"

"Satine. This galaxy is far from perfect, and Jedi rarely have a picture-perfect childhood. That's why Esinon's scared I'll leave, because both her parents from Scipio and Endor gave her up." Obi-Wan explained, Satine wrung her fingers,

"Obi,"

"I promise she 'll come to care for you as I have," he said with a soft smile, she returned the gesture as they turned their attention back to the speeders ripping past.

**One day later…**

Esinon stood in front of her signet painting that Obi-Wan had hung up on the wall. At the moment she was unable to tear her eyes away from the section where Senator Clovis's fingerprints had once lay. Her parents coming back had brought up a lot of old memories of her old mentor. She blamed him for her parents coming back, and her almost death on Geonosis.

If he had only just stayed with the Republic, never betraying them in the first place, none of this would have ever happened. Fives… Echo… her mind drifted to her brothers. They had been there through everything.

She had been figuring out to be a commander when they had been fighting through their shiny phase. Her favorite was hearing stories about their old squad who had all, unfortunately, died on Rishi. The heroic stories of Hevy who liked to blow things up and had a temper on him, but was the rock of their squad. One time when she had mentioned she was gonna blow up her remote-controlled pod racer because it wasn't working, Fives made an off-hand comment about how that sounded like something Hevy would say. She, of course, got curious and probed about it, Echo seemed more ready to talk about it than Fives, but soon her brothers both warmed up.

Cutup, the prankster, she would have definitely gotten along with him. Think of all the great pranks they could have pulled together, and apparently he was all kinds of sarcastic and snappy. They would have also argued. A lot.

Next was Droidbait, who had received his name for his tendency to be live bait to draw the droids fire, kriff he must have been brave. According to Echo, he was the kindest of all of them and kept Hevy in check when his temper got in the way of him. Even though she had never met them, they felt as much as family to her as Fives and Echo did. Hevy was with her on the battlefield, Cutup was with her whenever she pulled a prank she or made a sarcastic comment, Droidbait was with her whenever she gave a smile to her troops in the halls, or played with the younglings, or joked around in the medbay to make recovery a little easier.

Home. That's what the assignment was. Make a painting of your home, but with her constant traveling across the galaxy, home wasn't a place anymore. Home was more people. It had been Master Fisto, then it expanded to Xavier, and then she warmed up to her clan. Then Obi-Wan, and it expanded to Anakin and Ahsoka, to Master Plo, and Barriss, to Rex and Cody, to Fives and Echo, to Waxer and Boil. She didn't think her life would ever end up this way. Her mind floated back to the splotch of missing paint, she didn't want a replacement for Clovis. Family couldn't be replaced no matter how angry she was at him. It was more that she was making room for someone new. Well, two new people. She snatched the painting off the wall and sprinted to the hanger.

**A few minutes later…**

She walked down the rows of quarters in the 501st hall Spinner close on her tail, it was impossible to find anything here.

"Plasma, glacier, flak, here we go, torrent.'' She finally located the famed company's hallway, but she still had sixteen squads to sift through before she found Fives' and Echo's. She scanned down the hallway, viper, glider, tide, wave, finally, blitz. This is it, she didn't know why she was so nervous. What if they said no? This meant a lot to her, and she didn't know what she would do if they said no. Her hand hovered over the button, unsure if she could actually do this.

"_What are you waiting for?" _Spinner asked, she looked over at her astromech.

"I dunno… I guess I'm just nervous," she admitted,

"_Why are you nervous? It's Fives and Echo." _

"I know… but what if they say no?" she asked, Spinner, let out a low annoyed whistle,

"_It's Fives and Echo! They love you! They're not gonna say no, will you ignore your anxiety for once. Commander up. Or I swear I will shove you into that room myself and I will ask them for you." _Spinner snapped,

"I don't think they speak binary," she replied, still staring at the door.

"_That complicates things," _Spinner muttered, they both stared at the door for a few more seconds "_So are we gonna go in or are we gonna just keep staring at the door?" _She sighed, here goes nothing, she pressed the button, the blast door whooshing open. Attie, Zeer, and Nax were all seated in a circle with sabacc cards in hand, they all glanced up expecting to see one of their brothers in the doorway, instead, they were met with a very nervous looking Scipian and her astromech.

* * *

"Hello Commander," Attie greeted cheerfully, leave it to him to be the first to greet the officer who had very suddenly shown up. "Is there something you need?" She shuffled her feet, clenching what looked like a canvas in her hands, She looked unbelievably nervous, what in the world would a Jedi have to be nervous about?

"I uh- are Fives and Echo here?" she asked, Zeer smacked a sleeping form behind him,

"Ay, Fives, Commander wants to talk to you," Fives mumbled something in his sleep swatted at Zeer's hand, Attie was tapping Echo trying to get the ARC to wake up.

"Echo, you're vod'ika's here," Echo poked his head out from his bunk, most of blitz squad knew how close the three of them were, it didn't bother her in the slightest, she really liked the men in here.

"Hey Taz," he greeted,

"Fives you stubborn bantha, wake up," Zeer said, shoving his brother again, Fives finally poked his head out blearily,

"You're back! How was dinner with your parents?" he asked,

"It was, well, as good as it could be?" she said, questioning the awkward events of the night. Echo glances at the canvas in her hands, he couldn't see the painting since she has that side facing her knees,

"I'm guessing that's not why you came," she sighed, smiling slightly,

"No, not exactly, I came to ask you and Fives a question," Spinner nudged her, prompting her to continue, but she just kind of stared at Attie, Zeer, and Nax,

"I'm hungry," Attie blurted suddenly, making Esinon flinch slightly, ever since Sarrish, she still had a little bit of an issue with sudden loud noises. "I know you are too Zeer," Attie grabbed Nax by the arm and Zeer followed his lead, as they exited the room, heading for the mess.

"Is something wrong Taz?" Fives asked, the two ARCs finally climbing out of their bunks.

"No, no, I just have something I want to ask you two." Spinner nudged her again, beeping something they couldn't understand, she took a deep breath and turned the painting around. It had a forest on one half and snow-capped mountains on the other. A paw print sat in the middle with two Ewok ears above it. A pair of Scipian marking underneath that and a lightsaber just below that. She quickly explained that the painting was for an assignment for class, and her Scipian heritage and how she combined it with her Endorian roots, they both listened intently as she finished explaining, "So what I wanted to ask you is…" she paused, rubbing the top of the canvas, "Will you two put your fingerprints on my signet painting?" she finally blurted,

"Of course vod'ika, we would be honored," Echo replied, she sighed in relief,

"Is this why you were so nervous?" Fives asked,

"I just got worried… you would say no," she replied, sheepishly,

"Aww, we love you too much to say no." Echo said as Spinner offered out yellow paint to the both of them. They both took their time placing fingerprints over where Clovis's had been.

"Thank you, you really don't know how much this means to me," she said, smiling up at her older brothers.

"You're gonna make me cry. Let's go find Attie and company." Fives said, ruffling her hair, she rolled her eyes, handing the wet painting to Spinner.

"I have a few hours before I need to be at the temple, how does sabacc sound?" she asked,

"Sure,"

"I'm gonna clean you all out again," she said, confidently,

"Not if Zeer has anything to say about it," Fives said she and Zeer were the best sabacc players in Torrent's hallway. She laughed as they all strolled down towards the mess hall. Life was good, and it was easier with her brothers by her side.

* * *

**awwwww, the Windcaster siblings are so cute.**

**So as you can see, I have new cover art for this story! It's the photo that Esinon's dad sees on her comlink, it's one of my favorite drawings I've done! **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: the domino squad surviving :( I miss my boys. Also I was rewatching rookies and I never noticed this, but Hevy has a tattoo! I have no idea what it is. Maybe I'm just so and do not watch close enough... anyways, thought I'd share my little revelation! **

**Thank you for reading! Make sure to leave a review! **


	20. Hostage Crisis and the Battle of Aagonar

**A few months later…**

Esinon walked down the halls of the Senate building, after another meeting with her parents, she needed a break, and one of Echo's famous pep talks. The Chancellor pushing the thing with her parents was getting exhausting if only she could get a mission and get off of Coruscant and away from them. It was getting easier though, and she was warming up… just a little bit. As she walked down the halls, the lights flickered going out and was flooded with red light.

"What the-" she looked around the hallway, the senate building was on lockdown. She pressed her comlink,

"Master, come in, there is an emergency at the Senate building. Master?" someone must have blocked all communications, "Srapa." she concentrated centering herself in the force, she could hear voices, she followed the noise, crawling into a ventilation duct. She poked her head around a corner, there was a person sitting there, "Master Skywalker?"

"Speedy?" he turned around, he waved her over as they both listened to the conversation downstairs, she could see about twenty senators, including her parents, and five bounty hunters including Cad Bane and Aurra Sing, she had escaped Republic custody recently. This was a bold move for her, but then again she was Aurra Sing. Esinon shouldn't expect any less.

"I suggest you release us now. The senate will not treat with terrorists." Senator Amidala's voice echoed, they peeked out the ventilation shaft,

"Ain't you awful young and pretty to be a Senator." Esinon saw Padme's eyes shift up to their position, Bane whipped around as well, firing several shots as Esinon and Anakin ducked out of the way.

"Skywalker? After him!" Bane shouted, the two Jedi got separated, taking off in different directions of the hallway, she could already hear the pounding of assassin droids feet. She turned a corner running into the droids, she pulled out her lightsaber deflecting their blasts. She took off running around another corner dodging lasers, she ran past a room, she yelped as Anakin grabbed her hand and pulling her inside. He put a finger to his lips as they ducked behind a communication pod. A searchlight flashed overhead from the assassin droid, her heart pounded as they waited for the droid to leave. Anakin peeked over the pod, before signaling the coast was clear. He quickly opened the pod, and snapped his comlink in half hot wiring it, she could hear more footsteps,

"Hurry," she whispered,

"Calm down, I almost got it." he connected two of the wires, the comlink flickering back to life. "This is General Skywalker and Commander Windcaster. Chancellor Palpatine, are you there?"

"My dear boy, I'm glad to know you're there and alright." Chancellor Palpatine said Esinon rubbed her fingers over her crystal. Something about the Chancellor just still threw her off.

"What's going on?" Anakin asked,

"They sealed the entire building, no one can get in or out. It's up to you, you have to get to the power control room and turn off the security seal." the footsteps were growing closer. Anakin pulled out the wire as they both dove behind the pod, searchlights flew over their heads, Esinon reached out a hand,

"You have two more floors to check," she whispered calmly,

"Come on, we have two more floors to check." the weequay repeated as he and the assassin droid walked out of the room. She sighed in relief, Anakin tugged on her sleeve, dragging her into the hallway. They peeked around the corner to see the Weequay and droid down the hall.

"You go downstairs, I'll go up. We'll meet on the other side." the weequay instructed, the droid nodded moving down the set of stairs.

"I'll follow the droid, you follow the weequay," he said, already taking off down the stairs,

"Ok then," she tiptoed up the stairs, following at a safe distance from the weequay. She waited, closer, closer, she jumped tackling the weequay to the ground. She punched him in the face, he retaliated by throwing a kick into her chest. She grabbed ahold of his blaster as they wrestled for it, the weequay ran her into a table, knocking over vases. She grunted in pain, throwing a kick into his chest, pulling out her lightsaber deflecting the blaster fire. She used her speed to tackle him again, punching him in the jaw, she could hear someone coming, she grabbed the weequay's feet pulling him into another room. Esinon poked her head out of the door, the coast was clear, she dashed out through the corridors headed for the control room. She skidded around a corner, almost losing her footing. She spotted a little fish-like creature coming out of the room, she ran, trying to catch him, he quickly locked himself into the control room.

"Srapa," she grumbled, Anakin soon came running around the corner as well.

"What happened?" he asked, trying to open the door,

"The thing locked himself in there, here, I'll phase us through," she said, grabbing Master Skywalker's hand and placing the other on top of the door.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? I see you have a friend Skywalker," Aurra said, Esinon ignited her saber, and Anakin called her blaster out of her hand, she put her hands up in surrender before ducking down. A barrage of fire rained down on the two Jedi, the blast door opened up the little fish creature, stabbing an electrical probe into Esinon's neck and then into Anakin, she groaned in pain before passing out.

* * *

Aurra placed her foot on top of Skywalker's chest,

"Tie them up, we'll bring them back to Bane," she said, the assassin droid picked up Anakin's foot, and Aurra, Esinon's as the dragged the two Jedi. They dropped them at Cad Bane's feet, he picked up Esinon's lightsaber,

"Young Skywalker and Windcaster, not so impressive without your lightsabers are you, Jedi?" he tossed Esinon's saber aside, it has no value to him. He would be long gone before she could get to it, "Toss them in with the others." the bounty hunters threw the two Jedi roughly to the ground with the Senators, Daniel knelt down next to Esinon,

"Esinon, Esinon, can you hear me?" no response, he picked the girl up, making her as comfortable as she could, her body hanging loosely in his arms. Her mother, stroking her hair gently. He could see the bounty hunters setting up some sort of machine around the room.

"Turn on the field," Bane instructed, red lasers flew across the room. "Anyone of you as much as breathes on those, the whole room goes boom. Well, Senators, Jedi, I bid you farewell, let's go." agonizing minutes passed as Padme tried to get Anakin to wake up, Esinon's father shook her slightly,

"Come on Esinon, time to wake up." she stirred slightly, rolling over,

"Waxer… pranks can wait until morning," she mumbled,

"No Esinon, it's me, you're a dad." her eyes opened looking up, Anakin noticed her shift uncomfortably away from her father and mother, looking around for him.

"Is Master Skywalker ok?" she asked, sitting up,

"I'm fine Speedy, we have to get out of here." she spotted her lightsaber lying on the ground outside the ring of lasers, she carefully called it to her hands, Senator Amidala handing Anakin his, the two Jedi started in the middle of cutting a hole in the floor all of them falling through as the room above them exploded. Esinon turned in the air, using the force to catch her extremely pregnant mother and lower her to the ground safely. She then crashed into the ground, she rolled over to her stomach groaning,

"Is everyone ok!" she shouted, a chorus of yes's echoed through the room, she laid back down, sighing tiredly. One more glorious day in the Republic.

**A few days later…**

Esinon was supposed to be on her way to Nal Hutta to recapture Cad Bane and Ziro after their recent escape, instead, she was sitting in Coruscant's hospital trying to shut out her dad's growing anxiety as he paced the room. Her mother had gone into labor a few hours ago, and now she was waiting outside her mom's hospital room, able to sense her dad's growing anxiety. Her comlink buzzed,

"Blur,"

"Hey Taz, you want us to pick you up yet?" Fives asked, she chuckled to herself,

"No, I'm alright here. Besides, my dad's a mess," she replied,

"Well, we're free until Rex finds something else for us to do."

"Hi, Commander!" Attie called from the other end,

"Hello Attie, how are you?" she asked,

"Good sir," he replied, "Why is Fives all worked up?" Fives sighed,

"Shove off Attie,"

"Fives is all worked up because I'm at the hospital with my parents, my sister's being born." she heard a cry, the cry of a baby, her sister. She could sense the life in the room, the new life. "She's here…" she whispered, "Gotta go," she cut off the transmission and waited for the nurse to open the door, after what felt like an eternity the nurse finally opened the door.

"Commander Windcaster, we're ready for you." She followed the nurse into the hospital room, where her mom was holding a bundle of blankets, sweat dripping down her forehead. Esinon can already feel the baby's presence, she wondered if her new sister would be force sensitive.

"Esinon, meet your new sister, Thea Lynn." Esinon peered at the baby, her face all red and scrunched with large Scipian markings that covered most of her face, but they would stretch out and grow over time. Thea blinked big brown eyes, staring at her sister, Esinon waved slightly,

"Hi Thea," it was insane, sitting here with her parents, and her new sister. Esinon was mostly here for her sister. At least that's what she kept telling herself, in reality, she had started caring for her parents. With the constant visits and calls, she found herself ignoring her mom's hailings less and less, and visits were less awkward. Her dad was actually pretty cool and was a lot like her. He shared her interests in the big galaxy around them, he knew multiple languages just like her and rivaled her in sabacc. Her mom was the best cook and was so sweet. Sometimes the thought of abandonment would drift to the back of her mind, and her life would mirror something of normality. But at the end of the day, she would return to the temple or the _Negotiator _to live her life as a Jedi and Commander.

**The next morning…**

Esinon rolled over as sunlight started to drift over her face, burying it in a soft pillow. Hang on. Her pillow wasn't this soft in the temple or the _Negotiator. _Come to think of it, the bed underneath her felt way too comfortable. She blearily opened her eyes, surveying her surroundings, she was in her parents' apartment, she vaguely remembered leaving the hospital, her dad saying she needed to sleep and they could come back in the morning. She shot up out of bed, Obi-Wan! He was probably worried sick by now, wait- was he still on Nal Hutta? She spotted her gauntlets not far away, folded neatly on top of her robs. Now that she had thrown her blanket off to retrieve it, she found herself in a shirt that was far too big for her and a pair of athletic shorts. She grabbed the gauntlet pressing her comlink,

"Master?"

"Good morning Esinon, how did you sleep?" he asked cheerfully,

"Hey! Is that little blue?" Vos asked, maybe from the cockpit, there was the distant rumbling of a ship.

"Hello Master Vos," she greeted, "and Master, you knew I'm not at the temple?"

"Your father called Anakin and I last night, said that you had fallen asleep at the hospital. So, how's your baby sister?" he asked,

"She's… incredible." Esinon breathed, "I can't believe I actually have a sister."

"Esinon! Are you up?" her father called from the kitchen,

"Yeah, dad!"

"Well padawan mine, you probably should get some breakfast," Obi-Wan said,

"Yes Master, I'll see you when you return," she replied, hanging up the comlink, her feet silently padded along the marble, advantages of being a soldier. Her dad was already in the kitchen with two bowls of oatmeal on the counter,

* * *

She was cradling a small baby in her arms, big brown eyes blinking up at her. This wasn't Thea, she tried to turn her eyes to look around the room, but found them glued to the baby. It felt like she wasn't in her own body,

"Hello Peanut," the voice of her father said, gently stroking the baby's cheek, was this a memory? She could feel tears rolling down her cheeks. "I love you Esinon,"

* * *

She fell out of the memory, ok, she needed to talk to Master Yoda about this, and soon. If this was a force power, she needed to learn how to control it. She looked up at her father,

"Esinon, you alright?" he asked,

"Uh- yeah, could sense something." she quickly lied, had she seen a memory of her father holding her? He didn't seem to want to give her up…

"I made oatmeal for breakfast, I don't know what they serve at the temple…" he said, holding out a bowl.

"Master Kenobi usually cooks, Anakin can't cook to save his life," she said, gratefully taking the bowl from his hands. "So when does mom get to come home?"

"Not for a few days, the doctors have to give Thea all her shots and make sure she's alright." her dad paused for a minute, "And will Thea get to meet her big brothers?" Esinon froze mid stir of her oatmeal, "Fives and Echo? Right?"

"Yeah," she replied,

"Any family of my daughter is family of ours." he said, happily, "I would love to meet them,"

"I can see what I can do," she replied, Fives still was extremely hostile towards the topic of her parents, but that was just his personality. He was overprotective of anyone he cared about, which included her, she was torn from her thoughts as her comlink buzzed,

_New orders: 212th and 501st are to be shipped out to Aargonar to destroy a newly established base. _

"What is it?" Esinon set her bowl down on the table,

"I've gotta go, the war calls," she said, running back to the room she had woken up in changing into her robes at super speed,

"Stay safe peanut!" he called,

"I will!"

**The Negotiator…**

Esinon stared at the star maps of Aargonar, trying her best to keep her mind off of her parents. Her Master and Cody were busy battle planning for their assault when her comlink buzzed, she glanced down to see the frequency coming from Mandalore. Korkie.

"I gotta grab something from my quarters, be right back," she excused herself from the commander center, using her speed to quickly arrive at her quarters. She answered the call, a hologram of the Mandalorian prince appearing, "Hi Korkie, are you alone?"

"Yep, still don't understand why we can't contact each other in public." she sighed, for a man studying politics, sometimes he just blatantly forgot.

"Oh I dunno, probably the fact that you're a prince of a neutral world and I'm a Commander in the grand army of the Republic?"

"No need for sass," he said, folding his arms over his chest. She laughed to herself, she and Korkie had been having these calls for a few months now. She pulled some strings and got his com frequency after her mission on Mandalore. He was about the only thing she tolerated on the planet, but she was starting to warm up to Satine,

"So how was class?"

"Boring, where are you headed?" he asked, recognizing the bleak gray walls of her quarters on the _Negotiator. _

"Confidential," she replied,

"Worth a shot," he said, chuckling, she rolled her eyes at the fifteen-year-old, well more close to sixteen. Their life-days fell around the same day, so she was about to be fifteen. "Anything exciting happen recently?"

"I have a sister now, Thea Lynn," she replied,

"That's so exciting!" Korkie exclaimed, "I've always wanted siblings, but I don't know who my parents are. It's always just been me and Aunt Satine."

"I only met my parents, maybe… six months ago?" she guesstimated,

"Mmm, whenever I ask Aunt Satine about my parents, she just ignored me or tried to change the subject. I stopped asking after a while," he admitted,

"I used to do the same thing when I was little. I would run away from Master Fisto and find Master Windu and ask him when my parents were gonna come to get me," she said, Korkie knew about her past. He was really her only friend outside the temple and GAR. It was nice to not have the war hanging around their conversation, they could just talk. About anything really. A knock came at her door, "Srapa, I gotta go."

"Same time next week?" he asked hopefully, it was obvious he valued their friendship just as much as she did.

"We'll see, bye!" she quickly hung up as the rapping sounded again on her door. "Coming!" She opened the blast door to see Cody, "Hey Codes, are we coming up on the planet?"

"Yes sir, General Kenobi wanted to finish briefing you on the plan," he replied,

"Yeah, sorry about disappearing. It was important,"

"No problem sir," Cody didn't probe further, but she could tell that he was curious about why she kept disappearing, but being the soldier he was, he wasn't gonna pry. They walked in silence to the command center, where Master Kenobi was waiting,

"Good Esinon, you're back," her Master greeted,

"So what's the plan?" she asked, staring at the holo map of Aargonar,

"Anakin's force will take care of the local militia over on the west while we force the Separatists out of the base towards him, and clear it in time to blow the base," he explained,

"Got it," she said, a loud alarm blared signaling they were dropping out of hyperspace.

"Let's head to the hanger," he said, his padawan already bounding ahead of him. She certainly had a lot of energy, whatever she had disappeared for had certainly put her in a better mood. She, Cody, and Obi-Wan loaded into the gunship,

"You certainly are in a good mood," Waxer remarked at the grinning, bouncy, padawan,

"Yep!" she said, grabbing the strap above as they eased out of the hanger. Talking with Korkie always put her in a better mood, her happiness was rudely interrupted by the reality of war. Flak explosions pounded outside the unship, rattling the passengers. Soon they arrived on the planet's surface, the gunship doors whooshing open, she jumped out, blue blade blazing. She deflected the red plasma bolts back at the droids in front of her, protecting her troops as well as she could. She quickly took cover with her Master behind a rock formation,

"Alright, we'll need to split up to break their forces apart." her Master said,

"I'll take the left, you take the right. Meet in the middle." he nodded as they darted off in opposite directions, "Let's go men!" she shouted, Waxer and his platoon took off after her, she slashed through a few B1s and B2s as the whine of Bingo's Z-6 took residence in her ears along with pounding of droid and clone feet alike. She could see the base and her Master not far from meeting her there. She had to get there at the same time to overwhelm the base, "We have to hurry! Master Kenobi's almost there!" They all took off at an even faster pace, Esinon's lightsaber only a blue blur as they finally met up with Obi-Wan at the doors.

"On the count of three, three, two, one," he pressed the button to the blast door as the two Jedi leapt out to vanquish the droids in the lobby, they pressed onto the control center and took care of the droids manning their stations.

"All sectors clear?" she asked into her comlink, a chorus of yes's filled her ears, "Alright, every man, clear this base so Oddball can blow it up."

"Yes, sir!" Soon all the troopers had come back, but half of Boil's platoon was missing, they had gone with Obi-Wan.

"Master, where's the rest of Boil's platoon?" she asked,

"Anakin needed reinforcements, so I sent them that way. We'll be headed down there next, the local militia and the droids are putting up more of a fight than expected," he explained,

"Alright men, let's move out!" she ordered, all of them cleared the base, as soon as they got to a safe distance, Obi-Wan signaled Oddball and her best pilot came flying over in a squad of y-wings bringing the base to its knees in a thundering blaze of glory. She smiled in satisfaction, every planet they took back brought them closer to the end of the war. They were now trekking towards Anakin and Ahsoka over the sandy rock formations. Aargonar was tough terrain, where your boots could slip out from underneath you from the thin layer of dust that covered the rocks. Cliffs could be seen in the distance as the land went from flat to increasing to decreasing and she was getting tired. As soon as she heard the sound of blaster fire and explosions, she knew they were getting close. She took off sprinting into the battle, jumping in front of a few injured men, defending them as Kix and Coric got busy. Her blue blade a spinning blur, soon the two medics had gotten the wounded to a safe distance, so she could move again. She sprinted across the field, taking out droids along the way when she met up with Ahsoka. The two padawans were back to back as they defended one another,

"Split up!" Ahsoka shouted both of them sprinted away from each other as a bolt fired where they had been standing. Esinon vaulted herself over a rock joining a group of her men, all dressed in 212th orange. She spent the next few minutes, dodging blaster fire and destroying as many droids as possible when she heard a shriek,

"ROCKET!'' Before she could react and hit the dirt, the missile came whizzing past, hitting a rock that was right next to her and the men. She was roughly thrown to her feet, shards of the formation falling over her as she protected her neck. The ringing in her ears was deafening, she was a little sore, but she didn't seem to be too injured. She slowly sat up, grabbing her lightsaber which was nearby as the ringing was replaced by screaming and explosions. She got to her feet, scanning the area when she spotted a dust-covered man, a pool of blood starting to form, she ran over rolling him over gently. A large gash had formed in his shoulder, she pressed her hands over it, trying to staunch the bleeding. She tried to ignore the warm feeling of blood seeping out over her fingers and robes,

"Hey, do you have a name?" she asked, using one hand to pry the trooper's helmet off. He was awake, but not responding, she needed to try and get him to talk and stay awake until Drummer got here.

"Get away from him!" another voice cried, another trooper was sprinting towards them. As soon as he arrived, he tried to pry Esinon off of the trooper in front of her,

"Hey! I'm trying to save him! Stand down trooper! That's an order!" she yelled, seeing he wasn't backing down, she sent a well-placed kick to the clone's chest, she felt bad, but she needed to save this clone's life. The clone who had run over finally stopped struggling, "Do you have a name?"

"Sketch," he said shakily,

"Who's this?" she asked, nodding towards the trooper,

"Punch,"

"Ok, I need you to take a deep breath," she turned her attention back towards Punch, "Punch, is that your name?" he nodded weakly, "Ok, I need you to stay awake until a medic gets here, can you do that?" He nodded again, "Sketch, where's your Sargent?" The poor trooper was shaking, still looking like he wanted to pull Esinon away from his brother.

"Dead sir,"

"Look, I know you're scared, but Drummer will be here soon. Call him, now," she ordered, a few more troopers rushed over while Sketch was busy calling Drummer.

"Punch, Punch are you ok?" one of them asked,

"Is Punch part of your squad?" she asked, readjusting her hands over the wound.

"Yes sir," one of them replied,

"ETA on a medic is five minutes sir," Sketch said, Esinon's brain started turning, Punch wasn't going to last five more minutes if she didn't figure out a way to stop this bleeding, or at least slow it. She glanced down at her robes, her blue tabards soaked in crimson blood. She could make a tourniquet with them!

"You, help me get some of his armor off," she pointed at a trooper using her foot, "You, apply pressure to the wound. You keep him talking until Drummer gets here. " The two got to work as she began stripping the outer layer of her robes, leaving her in her tunic. She grabbed her tabards, tying them just above the wound. She noticed that one was still staring her down, while simultaneously comforting Sketch. What was with these troopers? Had they never had a Jedi help them before? She was gonna make sure to find them later and question them about why they were all staring at her like she was going to kill Punch at any second. She took a deep breath as her tunic clung to her body, sticky with Punch's blood and her own sweat.

"Sketch?" a hoarse voice asked, she looked to see Punch was beginning to come back. She scrambled over to him, only to be shoved back by the one who was glaring at her earlier.

"Stay back," he growled, she was about to give this trooper a piece of her mind when Drummer came sprinting over.

"How is he?" he asked, dumping his medkit on the ground and starting to look Punch over who was looking less and less pale with every growing second. Drummer inspected her handiwork, as he began to properly tend the wound, "Nice work with the tourniquet Commander,"

"Thanks," she tried to scoot towards Punch, only to be shoved back again, Cody came sprinting towards them, the blaster fire seeming to finally start to dull.

"General Kenobi has finished pushing the clankers towards General Skywalker. We're in the clear for now," Cody glanced down at the blood-soaked padawan, a feeling of panic and concern passing through her head from the trooper. She motioned towards Punch, making Cody realize, the blood wasn't hers. She decided that the latter of her robes could stay here, they were mostly destroyed anyways in her hurry to get them off. She grabbed her belt and her lightsaber, still watching carefully over Punch, the angry one shooting her a glare every time he decided that she was getting too close. Cody had caught the glares, and she was pretty sure that he saw her get pushed too, and the Captain was fuming but had seemingly made the decision to deal with later.

"Punch is gonna make it, thanks to you Commander," the medic said, smiling at his young Commander,

"That's a relief to hear when we get back to base, keep me po-" she froze, her mind-warping into a memory,

* * *

"Vaize!" Fives's voice shrieked from her mouth, she lunged at the trooper, throwing him out of the way, a detonator went off right next to her and the world went dark.

* * *

"Commander? Commander, can you hear me?" Cody asked, she blinked her eyes a couple of times, she reached out for Fives, no, no, no, she couldn't lose him. She struggled to find concentration in her panic, she reached further and further, she could feel his force signature pulsing, but weakly. She pressed her comlink, calling Hawk,

"Hawk, are you getting the injured back to the Resolute yet?"

"I'm two minutes out from general Skywalker's position sir," he replied, the roar of the gunship audible in the background.

"Good," she needed to get to Fives. Now. "Cody, you're in charge, tell Obi-Wan I'm going to the Resolute,"

"Yes sir," Cody replied, as the speedster took off soon arrive on the scene with Anakin,

"Speedy? What are you doing here?" he asked, she didn't answer, scanning the crowd for Echo and Fives. She spotted a stretcher being loaded into a gunship with the bloody form of Fives, most of his armor missing, she sprinted over joining them on the gunship. Echo looked mostly fine, only a few bumps in bruises, but Fives… his blacks were mostly cut from his body exposing burnt and bloody skin. His tattoo was completely obscured by the blood leaking down his face, multiple lacerations oozed crimson blood all over the floor of the gunship as Kix frantically tried to staunch the bleeding, with the help of Coric and Rex. She could feel Echo's emotions swimming with panic and anger as he attempted to lock them back in his iron ARC box.

"What happened?" Esinon asked,

"Shiny tripped a wire, he didn't make it. Vaize got a little too close, and Fives tackled him out of the way." Rex explained, "Vaize is a little crispy, but he'll be alright."

"He's gonna need a blood transfusion," Kix said, his white armor now ruby red,

"Me, I'll give him one," Esinon said, she was a match to the clones, AB positive.

"No, you've lost enough blood-"

"Kix, this blood isn't mine, and I'm not asking. I'm giving Fives the blood transfusion," she said, switching to her Commander voice trying to hide the scared child that stood next to Echo.

"Yes sir," the medic replied, they finally made it to the _Resolute, _the five of them sprinting towards the medbay, Esinon kept herself tethered to Fives's force signature, as long as she could feel it pulsing, he was still alive. She, Rex, and Echo were pushed out of the medbay so they could put Fives into surgery before the transfusion happened. She bit back tears, she couldn't let anyone see her like this. So afraid to lose. So un-Jedi like. Just a scared little girl, who didn't want to lose her brother. Echo's face had steeled over, she hated watching them do that. After every battle, the two ARCs would shove their emotion away with their training… kind of like she did.

"Esinon, where are you? Cody said you took off in a hurry for the Resolute." Obi-Wan's worried voice asked through her comlink,

"I-" she paused, biting the inside of her cheek, "There was an emergency," she mumbled,

"What kind of emergency?" he asked in a more stern tone,

"Fives… I sensed he got injured, and I need to give him a blood transfusion," she said,

"And how exactly did you sense he was injured?" Obi-Wan asked,

"It's… complicated. I've been meaning to talk to Master Yoda about it and I haven't had time with all the missions and my sister and I don't how to control it and-" she stammered,

"Esinon, take a deep breath, focus on helping Fives for now. We'll talk about this later," he said, softly, sensing his padawan's raging ocean of emotions.

"Ok," she whispered shakily, the comlink going dark. She sank down against the wall, her hands trembling as she tucked her head between her arms, to hide silent tears slipping from her eyes. She wasn't acting like a Jedi, she should be able to let go. Why couldn't she just let go Fives? The Fives who told the worst jokes, but always made her laugh. The Fives who carried her on his shoulders. The Fives who had been there for her whole journey as a padawan this far. The Fives who wore her markings over his heart with pride. She couldn't lose him. All of her memories of Sarrish came ripping back through her mind, couldn't save them- couldn't save them- she should have been there! My fault, my fault, my fault, should have been faster, better, stronger. She felt an arm come to rest around her, the dam broke. All the emotions she had been trying to push away came flooding out in muffled sobs,

"I'm scared too vod'ika," Echo whispered, resting his on top of hers.

"I'm a terrible Jedi," she choked, burying her head in his chest, wrapping her tiny arms around his torso.

"You don't need to worry about that right now," he said, she could feel tears dripping onto her head. She drew in a shaky breath, everything still smelled like blood, sweat, and smoke, she wanted to shower, but she needed to stay right here. She wasn't planning on moving from Fives's vicinity until he was back up and moving. She finally gathered herself together enough to pull away from Echo's hug, wiping the tears from her face, streaking it with ash and dirt. The door to the medbay whooshed,

"Fives is out of surgery, and it was successful. Commander, we're ready for you." Kix said she nodded, squeezing Echo's forearm in reassurance, Rex taking her place next to the ARC. Kix led the young Jedi through the medbay over to a sink. "Ok, so a blood transfusion isn't overly complicated," he said, taking a pair of scissors and cutting off her dirt and ash covered sleeve. "We're going to insert the IV into your arm and it will feed blood into Fives." He took a sponge and gently rubbed away all of the grime from her arm, he then stared at her face, frowning. He began running the sponge over her face, washing away layers of grime and tears. "We'll check up on you guys every once and awhile, the transfusion takes between one and four hours." he explained, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes, aliit ori'shya tal'din." she replied, Kix nodded, he quickly pricked her finger testing her blood for any impurities, once the test was completed she was cleared to go. She did her best to keep all the tears on the insides at the sight of bruised and battered Fives laying on the medical bed. She could still sense his force signature, and it was pulsing stronger than before. She sat down in a chair next to the bed, Coric inserting the IV into Fives's arm first, she took a deep breath, trying not to tense up. She hated needles, but she needed to relax her muscles so that Coric could get the IV into her arm. She resorted to clenching her opposite hand over the chair, scrunching her eyes shut as she felt the needle hit her skin. In a second it was over, fresh blood was flowing into Fives's body. At this point, all she could do was wait, and beg the force to not take Fives away. Soon Echo arrived, sitting down next to her chair,

"Kix said Fives is most likely gonna pull through, but we'll have to see," he said, she wrapped an arm around him, placing her small hand in Fives's bandaged one.

"He's gonna make it," she whispered, "And we'll be back to normal and no time." Echo nodded sleepily, she sent a suggestion to her brother through the force to sleep, and he passed out against her leg. She gently squeezed Fives's hand, "Come back to us ori'vod," she whispered,

**The Negotiator…**

Cody had been replaying the scene in his mind, Commander Windcaster scooting towards Punch and being roughly shoved away by Chopper. He had been waiting patiently outside the medbay for Drummer to finish tending to Punch so he could talk to the whole squad. Even if Esinon hadn't disappeared to the _Resolute, _she wouldn't have reprimanded the squad for their actions. She would say that people act out during battle and tell him to leave it alone. But she wasn't here, and he was going to get some answers. He pressed his comlink, a very sleepy looking Esinon Windcaster appeared,

"Hello Cody," she mumbled,

"Are you alright sir?" he asked,

"Yeah, sorry to disappear, it was an emergency," she said, her usually bright eyes looked guilty and exhausted,

"No problem sir, I knew whatever it was it was important. I was calling because I saw Chopper push you, and I wanted to ask if anything further happened," he said, she sighed, running her free hand over her face.

"It wasn't that big of a deal-"

"Commander please, I really need to know," he said, she sighed,

"I was fighting when a rocket hit on my position when I got back up, I saw Punch was injured. I didn't know him at the time. I saw blood and acted, I was trying to get him to respond to me when Sketch came running over, he tried to pull me off of Punch. When he didn't listen to my order to stand down, I kicked him in the chest and he finally stopped struggling. The rest of them came rushing over and I made a tourniquet with my tabards. After I applied it, I gave them a little space, but when I heard Punch start talking again, I started to make a move for him, but angry eyes shoved me." she explained, "Is that good?" she asked with a yawn,

"Perfect sir, get some rest," she nodded before ending the transmission, Drummer came out,

"Punch is stable, awake, and responsive sir. I've taken the liberty of calling the rest of his squad here so that you could get some answers." Drummer said, leave it to Drummer to be able to read every trooper in that battalion.

"Thank you, Drummer," Cody said, giving Drummer's shoulder a squeeze. He entered the medbay where Punch was laying, surrounded by his squad. They all straightened to attention at the sight of their Captain, "At ease gentlemen. I've come to talk to you about the recent happening of the battle of Aargonar."

"Is something wrong sir?" Gus asked, the most innocent of his squad,

"Yes, I wanted to talk about all your behaviors on the field. Especially you, Sketch and Chopper." The two troopers straightened further, "I just finished a com call with Commander Windcaster, where she reported that you," he motioned to Sketch, "tried to physically remove her from Punch. And you Chopper shoved her back, twice."

"Sir, there is an explanation," Sketch said,

"Well, I would certainly like to hear it," Cody replied coldly, everyone knew he was fiercely protective of Esinon and anyone that messed with her had to deal with him.

"I… I don't know what came over me, sir. I honestly thought she was trying to hurt him. I didn't want to lose my brother sir," Sketch whispered shakily,

"Now why in the name of the force would you think that Commander Windcaster was trying to hurt Punch?" he asked, no one spoke, Cody's cold amber eyes searched the squad members until they fell upon Chopper.

"Slick," he growled, this was Slick's old squad. Cody had almost forgotten about them after the whole fiasco. "Slick used to tell us stories of the Jedi. How they wouldn't protect us. How they didn't care. He told us that one time he saw a Jedi kill a brother who was injured, but still alive. Being not exactly shinies, but not exactly veterans, we believed him. We've gotten used to taking care of ourselves, so when we saw Commander Windcaster getting close to our brother, we feared the worst." Chopper explained, an angry glare trying to cover up the pain in his eyes.

"What else did he tell you?" Cody asked, his eyes softening,

"The stories were endless," Gus said with a shudder,

"Either way, your behavior on the field was inexcusable. I won't put anything on the record if you apologize to Commander Windcaster as soon as she returns," he said, firmly,

"Yes sir," they all replied,

"Get some rest men," he said, leaving the room.

**Back on the Resolute…**

Rex finally got a chance to return to the medbay after a way too long conversation with General Skywalker about logistics, upon walking into the sterile environment he found Esinon passed out in a chair next to the bandaged form of Fives, with Echo passed out against her leg. Her small hand loosely holding one of Fives's fingers, like a baby, would after just being born. He grabbed a blanket, gently resting it over her, before leaving to find Kix.

"How's Fives doing?" he asked,

"Looking like he's gonna pull through," Kix said, with a sigh, busy scrubbing his armor, the red of Fives's blood disappearing into the sink. "Commander Windcaster and Echo are doing better if you were curious." To be honest, Rex had been worried ever since she broke down in the hallway and kept rambling about how she was a terrible Jedi.

"Thanks Kix,"

"No problem Cap, you might want to get some rest though, you're looking a little worse for wear," he said, Rex sighed with a small smile, he knew better than to argue with the medic, but he didn't want to leave Fives… fortunately for him, the medic could read his face. "If there's a complication with Fives, and there won't be, but if there is you'll be the first to know." Rex nodded, before making for his quarters, for some much-needed rest.

**A few minutes later…**

"Alright Commander, you're all set," Kix said, removing the IV. She yawned sleepily, scrunching her fingers a couple times to release the tingling sensation, "Don't get up too fast, you'll be a little dizzy from giving all the blood." he offered her a glass of water,

"Thanks Kix," she said, downing it in one gulp. She looked down at herself, still covered in dried blood, dirt, and dust. She sighed, looking over at Fives, she really didn't want to leave, but she really needed a shower and a change of clothes, especially since she didn't want to contaminate the medbay. "I'm going to get cleaned up, I'll be right back,"

"No need to hurry Commander, everything is under control. Fives'll be alright 'till you get back." he said, she nodded, glancing back at Fives and Echo one last time before leaving.

* * *

Her soiled clothes were in hamper, all the blood, sweat, and grime washed down the drain, her muscles had relaxed from the hot water and for a brief moment, the panic from her growing powers, losing Fives, trying to be a Jedi, washed down the drain with the dirty swirls of water, but once she got out, it was quiet around her. Yet it felt like someone was yelling as her thoughts pounded in the silence. She didn't like quiet, she never had. Quiet meant allowing all your thoughts to come to the forefront of your mind and just letting them be. Her muscles tightened as her panicked thoughts screamed in her ears in the midst of silence. She took a deep breath, _It'll be alright, one step at a time. _A few minutes later, she finished tying off her braid, dressed in Republic, gray, military-issued sweats, her bare feet on the cold durasteel.

She pressed the button to the door, not really caring that Anakin would reprimand her about needing to wear shoes, it was a short walk to the medbay. She was making a beeline for her brothers, when she felt a distress call in the force, except this wasn't from a Jedi. It had the familiar underlying tone that every clone had, she took a detour towards the call, letting force guide her. She walked down the hall, her bare feet silent against the durasteel, searching for the distress, it only grew as she continued her search. The feeling led her all the way to the mess hall, she pressed the button, the blast door whooshing opening. Only a few soldiers were present, she quickly motioned for them to sit back down when they tried to stand at attention. She scanned the men, trying to figure out which one had unknowingly sent a distress call.

* * *

"Fives, Fives!" her head was pounding as she rolled over in the dirt, the bloody form of Fives laying a few feet away from her. She scrambled over trying to shake him awake, "Come on Fives," she pleaded with the voice of a clone. This wasn't her memory,

* * *

She fell out of the memory, still standing at the entrance of the mess hall. When she had gotten the memory from Fives, he had shouted a name. He had saved someone, who was it? She racked her brain trying to remember the name, Vay? No, Vex? No, it started with a 'v' though, she pushed further into her mind, flipping through 'v' names until she finally reached the correct one, Vaize. That was the trooper's name, Vaize, she scanned the room,

"Are you looking for someone sir?" Jesse asked,

"Um, yes, actually. Have any of you seen Vaize?" she asked, a trooper on the right side of the room raised his hand slowly,

"I'm Vaize sir," he said, his face was all puffy and red, with a bacta patch over his cheek. She didn't know how to ask this question, since explaining the force to non-force users was diff- "I'm so sorry sir," he blurted, "It's my fault that Fives is injured,"

"Your not the one who tripped the wire," she said, sitting down next to him,

"I should have been faster," he muttered, running his hands over each other, "Fives shouldn't have had to tackle me." He rubbed his eye, she realized he was trying to hide tears, "If I noticed the wire sooner, Fives wouldn't have had to go into surgery, and you wouldn't have to have to give up your blood, and-"

"Hey, don't blame yourself, Fives will always look for his brothers, and that includes you." she said, she grabbed his shoulders forcing him to look at her, "Listen, I don't blame you, and neither will Fives. He will sacrifice his life for any of you guys, and you know that, okay?" he nodded, she opened up her arms, "C'mere," he tentatively accepted her hug, she gently rubbed his back, trying to relax his muscles. "Fives would do anything to protect you, he will do whatever it takes to make sure all of you make it."

"But what if that means he's not gonna make it?" he asked in a hushed whisper, her heart clenched at the thought,

"Then I know he died protecting who he loved," she said, releasing Vaize, she saw Zeer and Attie hovering not far away, she quickly made the connection that Vaize must be a part of Blitz squad, she gave nod to them as she stood up, and the two troopers swept up their younger brother. She silently got up and walked towards the door, not paying attention she slammed right into Rex. "Ow," she grumbled, holding her head, "Sorry,"

"It's alright," Rex said, he paused looking over her shoulder, "I was looking for Viaze, he's been beside himself."

"I know, he, kinda broke down in my arms." she mumbled, Rex sighed,

"I'll go talk to him, Echo's been asking for you." he said, "Poor thing is delirious and half asleep." She sighed, running a hand down her face,

"Stupid ARC box," she mumbled to herself, "Alright, I'm gonna head back to the medbay, thank you, Rex."

"Of course sir," he paused as she started to walk away, "Commander, can I ask you a question?"

"You just did," she teased, "But yeah, quickly though," She was anxious to get back to the medbay, she'd been gone long enough already.

"Why give Fives your blood? You know that we're clones are all compatible for each other," he said,

"I know, but you guys sacrifice a lot, and it's only fitting that I'm able to give something back. You guys have saved my life more times than I can count, so I owe you."

"You don't owe us, anything Commander, you've saved all of our lives more times than I can count, but thank you."

"You're welcome Rex, now you better not keep Vaize waiting, you know how uncomfortable Zeer gets around emotions," she said,

"Yeah, I'm gonna go handle that," he said, hurrying into the mess hall, she laughed to herself before speeding off to the medbay.

**A few minutes later…**

The first thing Fives became aware of upon waking up was that his body hurt. A lot. Everything ached even on this soft bed, hang on. Soft bed?

"It's about time you woke up," an all too familiar voice teased, he forced himself to open his eyes, blinking aware the blurriness.

"Hey Taz, Echo," he murmured, he reached out a hand towards his siblings, his eyes taking in the sight of bandages all down his arms and torso.

"You just had to be the hero didn't you, you big di'kut." Esinon said, with a teasing but sad smile.

"I had to get Vaize," he mumbled,

"We know," Echo muttered, gently gripping his hand, "You scared us bad,"

"I scared you? I scared me," he muttered sleepily,

"That isn't funny Fives," Esinon said, in a stern tone, he looked over to see tear tracks on her face, it must have been serious if Esinon was crying.

"I'm sorry Taz, but I had to get Vaize,"

"We don't blame you Fives, it was just close. A lot closer than it has been in a while." Echo said, sure Fives had been in a few scrapes, but nothing this bad. Fives gave his brother's hand a squeeze,

"I'm sorry Echo,"

"Don't worry, I forgive you vod," he replied, Fives looked around the room,

"Is Vaize ok?" he asked,

"Yes, he's a little burnt, and his face is pretty puffy and bruised, but other than that, he's ok," Esinon reassured him,

"That's good," Fives murmured, sighing tiredly. For the time being, Esinon could push thoughts of seeing memories, new force abilities, attachments, and every other stress that came with war to the back of her mind and enjoy this rare moment of peace with her brothers.

**A few hours later…**

Esinon walked through the halls of the _Negotiator _trying her best to write up a mission report for Aargonar, but her mind was as tired as her body was so it was getting increasingly difficult. Her comlink buzzed,

"Yeah?"

"Sir, can we get you on the bridge?" Cody asked, she stifled a yawn,

"Sure," she made her way to the bridge, finding a squad of troopers standing with Cody. "Hey, what's all this?"

"They have something to tell you," Cody said, she looked at the troopers, none of their armor looked very unique, the same orange triangle pattern over their chest plates. She didn't recognize any of them by looks, but she could tell it was the squad from Aargonar.

"Commander, we're very sorry for our behavior on the field." Sketch said,

"We should have known you were only trying to help," Angry eyes added,

"It's alright, panic sets in on the field, and sometimes we can't control ourselves," she replied,

"Thank you, for saving my life Commander." Punch said, she nodded and smiled,

"While you're here, I'd like to know your names." she said, cheerfully, trying to hide her exhaustion.

"I'm Gus, this Jester," he pointed to the trooper next to him, "and that's Chopper." he pointed at angry eyes. She paused, she recognized those names, they were the names floating around the troopers the days following her arrival on Christophsis, with the word aruetyc trailing them.

"You guys are Slick's squad… aren't you?" Chopper flinched,

"We were," he said, coldly,

"Being betrayed hurts, I would know," she said, running a finger along the controls of her datapad, thinking about Clovis. "Um- you guys are dismissed." They gave her and Cody a nod before leaving, "Cody, what does aruetyc mean?"

"It means traitor."

**That night…**

Esinon rolled over on her bed, finally finding a comfortable position, after the day she had, she needed the sleep.

* * *

"Ani! Bedtime!" a female voice shouted, Esinon surveyed her surroundings, she was in a clay brick house of some sort. A woman walked past her, peeking out the door, "Ani, I'm not going to tell you again." Esinon walked towards the door to see the man and a little boy,

"What are you doing?" the boy asked,

"I'm checking your blood for infections," the man replied, pricking the boy's finger. "Now go on, you have a big day tomorrow." the little boy nodded before running past her and into the house. "Sleep well Ani," As soon as the boy disappeared around the corner he raised the comlink to his lips, "Obi-Wan?"

"Yes Master?" the younger voice of her Master replied,

"I need an analysis of the blood sample I'm sending you."

"Wait a minute," the clicking of buttons sounded on the other end,

"I need a midi-chlorian count," The man plugged in the blood sample and waited,

"The reading is off the charts, over 20,000." Esinon's jaw dropped, that rivaled Master Yoda's. She rested at about 16,000, which was a lot for a Jedi, but over 20,000? She had never heard of a Jedi with that many before except for… Anakin. "Even Master Yoda doesn't have this many,"

"No Jedi has," the man replied,

"What does that mean?" Obi-Wan asked,

"I'm not sure," the man ended the transmission to see Esinon in the doorway, "Hello little runner,"

"It was you on Mandalore," she murmured,

"Yes, indeed it was."

"But how?" she asked, taking a seat next to him.

"You wear my crystal around your neck, do you not?" he asked, she clasped the necklace in her hand,

"You are Qui-Gon," she whispered,

"Yes, you figured it out on Mandalore, you are as smart as I thought," he said,

"But how? Why?" she asked, in disbelief.

"I am not sure at the present moment, but somehow, you seem to have bonded with my kyber crystal, and my memories are being presented to you in dreams," he said, looking up at the starry sky.

"More memories? How come I'm seeing people's memories?" she asked,

"I don't know little runner, I don't have all the answers, but the best thing to do would be to talk to Master Yoda," he said,

"Should I tell him about you?" she asked,

"That is one thing I do know, I can't be revealed yet. Which might make things a little complicated, because I think your new-found ability to see memories might be attributed to me," he said, scratching his beard. "I used to have the power of psychometry when I was alive."

"Then what am I supposed to tell him?" Esinon asked in exasperation,

"Just tell him that you've been seeing other people's memories since, what? Rishi?"

"Yeah… how'd you know?" she asked,

"A bond works both ways, my little runner," he said, she sighed, pulling one of her knees up to her chest.

"But why me? I don't have time to learn how to use a new power. I've got enough on my plate as it is." she said tiredly,

"I don't know why the force has chosen you, but I know that it has a will. You need to have faith in the force," he said, resting a hand on her shoulder. She sighed,

"Being a Jedi is hard," she muttered,

"You're still learning, it gets easier with time." he said, she nodded, "Don't worry, just talk to Master Yoda and learn to gain control."

* * *

**Some translation for yall- **

**aliit ori'shya tal'din- family is more than blood **

**aruetyc- traitor **

**di'kut- idiot **

* * *

**That moment when you remember that Slick's squad still exists and they were part of the 212th. *face palms* It's ok, you'll be hearing more from them later.**

**So we finally learn who the mystery man is, thank goodness. And psychometry is sense echo, what Quinlin Vos uses when he touches the cup. Or for my Flash fans out there, when Cisco vibes something. The technical term is psychometry. **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: Satine and Obi-Wan definitely know about Esinon and Korkie's 'secret conversations', but they let them have them anyway, because they're not hurting anyone. (They might have some secret convos of their own.) ;) **

**Thank you all for reading! Make sure to leave a review! **


	21. The Academy

**One day later, the Jedi temple...**

"Padawan Windcaster, something you wanted to talk to me about?" Master Yoda asked, climbing onto a cushion, and motioning for her to the same. She sat down crossing her legs, resting her hands in the middle. She could tell the elder master could already sense her anxiety, so best to just come out with it.

"Yes Master Yoda, I've been having this… well, I don't know if I'd call it a problem, but more of a new development." she began, "Since the incident on the Rishi moon, I have been able to see people's memories. I saw either Fives or Echo's memories on more than one occasion, as well as Master Kenobi's and my dad." Master Yoda's brow furrowed in concentration,

"See other people's memories, you can?" he asked, Esinon nodded, "Very interesting, this revelation is." He ran a clawed finger over the grooves in his cane. "How long been able to use this power have you?"

"Since the Rishi incident," she said,

"And why did you come to me sooner not, hmm?"

"It hasn't happened that often…" Well, she'd been having Qui-Gon dreams for a while now, but he told her, it wasn't time to tell Master Yoda yet. "With all of my responsibilities, since it wasn't happening on a regular basis I didn't think it was a big problem."

"Sounds similar to sense echo, this does. Touch the person to see the memory, do you?" he asked,

"No Master, I don't know what triggers the memories, they just come," she said, running her finger over the buckle on her boot.

"The most recent occurrence, what was?"

"Yesterday, I saw a trooper named Vaize's memory," she explained, Master Yoda hummed to himself, deep in thought.

"Research this I will, in the Holocron vault. An extension of sense echo this may be. For now, panic, do not." he instructed, "Once more information I have, contact you, I will."

"Thank you, Master Yoda," he gave a nod as she bowed and exited.

**A few weeks later…**

"Focus, breathe," Yoda instructed, Esinon took a deep breath, in, out, as she held Yoda's small green hands in her own. "The memory, reach for it." She furrowed her brow in concentration, stretching out for the memory. Master Yoda had told her this was a rare form of psychometry or sense echo, now, for weeks she had been training with Master Vos and Yoda to learn how to use it. "What you see, tell me."

"I can see… Master Windu, and Master Billaba, but she's a padawan. She's holding a child… it's… me." she said,

"The day you came to the temple, this is," he said, keeping the memory at the forefront of his mind.

"I can see Master Fisto, holding me, and you're discussing who will teach me basic," She opened her eyes, "It's getting clearer, easier to reach."

"With practice, this comes. Improved drastically you have," he said, proudly,

"Thank you, Master Yoda," she beamed,

"A mission for you, we have, on Mandalore." he said, "Contact us, Duchess Satine has, a teacher they need at the Royal Academy."

"You want me to teach on Mandalore? About what?" she asked,

"Corruption," he replied, folding his hands over his cane.

**A few days later…**

Esinon fiddled with the end of her braid,

"You seem nervous," Anakin remarked,

"No," she retorted, flipping one of her braids behind her back, she had done her hair the same way she did when she went to dinner with her parents.

"Any reason your so dressed up?" he asked,

"I don't know what you mean." she crossed her arms over her chest. Anakin rolled his eyes and decided to leave it alone,

"It's pretty cool the council gave you a mission Speeds, and you have to see it through."

"I still don't exactly understand what I'm supposed to be doing," she replied, finally loosening up.

"According to Senator Amidala, Mandalore is a deeply corrupt world. If the cycle is to be broken, the future leaders at the Royal Academy of Government must learn the evils of corruption. Master Yoda feels only a young padawan like you can get through to them." Anakin explained,

"Besides, you had all sorts of fun last time on Mandalore." Ahsoka teased,

"So much fun," Esinon said, rolling her eyes. The ship entered the atmosphere and raced towards the domed city of Sundari. The ship pulled in for a smooth landing on the landing deck, she and Anakin strode towards the Duchess and Prime Minister, while Ahsoka and Rex stayed with the ship.

"Duchess Satine," Anakin greeted, gently kissing the Duchess's hand. "Prime Minister Almec,"

"Master Skywalker, so good to see you again. Esinon, I'm glad to see you as well,"

"Duchess, Prime Minister," she gave a nod,

"I'm grateful the Jedi council could spare the two of you to help instruct our leaders and peacekeepers of tomorrow. Please thank Master Yoda for me," Esinon and Anakin shared a look,

"Uh… I'm afraid that due to our limited resources, I must return to battle immediately." Anakin explained,

"So you will not be staying Master Skywalker?" Prime Minister Almec asked, seemingly doubtful in Esinon's ability to do this. Frankly, she was feeling the same way.

"No, but I assure you, Padawan Windcater is a highly capable Jedi and has the full confidence of the Council."

"Very well, cadet Korkie, Amis, Lagos, Soniee," the four cadets stepped forward, "Padawan Windcaster, these are some of the cadets you will instructing."

"Nice to meet all of you," she said, Korkie gave her a wink. She could see Almec eyeing her lightsaber,

"Unfortunately, since you and your Master's recent visit and the trouble that followed, no off worlders are allowed to carry weapons." Esinon's face went a shade of red,

"Speedy? Cause trouble, now that's a first." Anakin teased,

"Like your one to talk," the fifteen-year-old retorted,

"Just give me the lightsaber," She handed it over to Anakin and he clipped it to his belt.

"Thank you for respecting our ways Master Jedi," Satine said gratefully,

"Excuse the interruption sir, but it's time to depart," Rex said, joining them, "General Fisto is expecting us,"

"If you'll excuse me," Anakin and Rex made their way back to the ship. The Duchess and Prime Minister started walking towards the academy, the cadets stood at attention as they walked past. Esinon fell in line next to Korkie.

"You changed your hair, I like it," he whispered, she blushed,

"You've gotten taller," she replied, he grinned, standing a little straighter,

**A few hours later…**

"Corruption is what happens when someone in power puts their own personal gain before the interests of the people they represent," Esinon explained, to the group of about thirty, fifteen and sixteen-year-olds. She was trying not to freak out because she knew she had a class of twenty-year-olds next.

"So it's a result of greed?" Soniee asked, raising her visor,

"Yes, a leader sacrifices moral integrity for the sake of money or power. Entire star systems have collapsed into chaos or revolution because their greedy politicians got caught up in a cycle of bribery and blackmail while their people suffered."

"Does that mean most government officials are corrupt?" Lagos asked,

"Well, no… but the point is that temptation is always there, and citizens must be vigilant so corruption can't take root. The deadliest enemy of a society lies within its borders, and from these internal threats the people need to be protected." Esinon said,

"But if you don't trust your leaders, isn't that treason?" Amis asked,

"It's every citizen's duty to challenge their leaders, to keep them honest, and hold them accountable if they're not," she said, she wished someone would have done that with Clovis. Maybe that's why Master Yoda chose her for this mission because she had first-hand experience.

"How do you do that?" Korkie asked,

"By exposing corrupt officials for what they are. Lasting change can only come from within." The bell rang, "Alright, class dismissed, make sure to have your assignments done for tomorrow!" she called as the students gathered their things and made for the door. Korkie walked over to her,

"Great work," he said, "So I'll see you at lunch?"

"Hopefully, I've got to contact the council at lunch." Korkie gave an exaggerated, dejected pout, "I'll come and find you, now get before your late." He gave a cocky grin before leaving as a group of about thirty, twenty-year-olds took his place. She straightened up, putting on her Commander face, if she could get a room full of shinies to feel intimidated by her, a room of dignitaries would be nothing.

**One hour later…**

Esinon let out a long sigh as the last student filed out of the classroom, her class had run later than expected, but she guessed that was a good thing because the students must have learned a lot. She looked up to see Korkie standing in the doorway holding two trays of food.

"You look overwhelmed," he said, entering the classroom,

"Uh- yeah, teaching a class of twenty-year-olds about corruption is a lot harder than it looks," she said, collapsing into a desk next to him. He placed a tray of food in front of her, "Thanks,"

"So they liked the lesson I take it," he said, she nodded,

"Once I got over the initial nervousness it wasn't so bad," she replied,

"And how'd you do that?"

"It's like a lot of things in my life, you put on a brave face, and you keep marching."

"Is that how you're hoping to win the war?" he asked, she sighed,

"I'm hopeful, I know that one day this war will end, and life can go back to somewhat of a normal," she replied,

"How long are you here for?"

"The next week, then I've got to head back out on the field,"

"I wish you could just stay," he said, stirring his food slowly,

"Yeah, but we've got our duties, mine to the Republic and the order, and you to your people."

"Don't you ever get overwhelmed by all that pressure? To lead all those men, and have it all figured out? I know I'm learning how to lead my people, but I'm expected to take my Aunt's place and… I don't know if I can do it. She's so incredible, and I'm just Korkie."

"I get overwhelmed all the time, I would be concerned if I didn't, or if you didn't. When I got off of the shuttle on Christophsis I was whisked into battle and I had to figure out to be a Commander on the fly."

"So how did you figure it all out?" he asked,

"I didn't, I'm still learning how. It's about remembering I'm not alone. I have my Master and Ahsoka and Xavier, and Cody and Rex. I'm not the only one learning how to be a military officer, and you're not the only one learning how to be a leader." Korkie stared at her for a second,

"Can I get your advice on a hotline please?" he asked, she giggled,

"You'll have to ask Echo and Master Kenobi about that, that's where I inherited it from. Do you know how many times I've had this same talk with Master Kenobi?"

"Too many," he teased,

"Oh shut up," she said, shoving his shoulder,

"As you wish,"

**The next day…**

Esinon placed along the front of the classroom, her eyes shifting along the students until they fell on Korkie, who was currently whispering something to Lagos. He had been like this all morning, distracted.

"Korkie," she said, catching his attention, "You seem distracted, what's going on?" she asked,

"We did what you said, we found evidence of corruption," he said, proudly,

"What do you mean?" she asked,

"Well we were hungry, so we decided to go look for food," Lagos replied, Mandalore had been running out of food ever since the beginning of the war,

"Food?"

"Yeah, down at the government warehouse," Amis said casually, her brow furrowed,

"And someone just let you in to inspect the warehouse?" she asked, Korkie was the crowned prince, so maybe he pulled some strings.

"No, we broke in," he replied, Esinon's eyes went wide,

"Oh no," Soniee muttered,

"So you committed a crime?"

"It sounds bad, I know," Korkie cut in, "But then we saw a meeting, and offworlders-"

"And they chased us!" Lagos exclaimed,

"Maybe they chased you because you broke into a government warehouse," Esinon said, placing a hand on her hip.

"No, it was a black market deal. I know it!" Korkie said, "My Aunt Satine told us to stay out of it, but we must do something." she admired his resolve to do something, but they needed proof,

"Do you have evidence?" she asked,

"We made a holo-recording," Soniee held up the device, "the Prime Minister is meeting us tonight to…" she trailed off.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" she asked,

"But I thought you said it was the duty of every citizen to expose corrupt officials," Amis said,

"I'm only saying you should take this slowly. Examine all the facts." she began walking towards the four cadets' desks. She just wanted to teach them about corruption, not overthrow the Mandalorian government. "And all of the people involved before you act." Korkie stared down at his hands,

"You sound more like my aunt than a Jedi knight," he mumbled, the bell rang and he stood up quickly walking out. She sighed, rubbing her hands over one another. She didn't see Korkie at lunch, or the rest of the day. She kept trying to tell herself that he just needed time to cool off, but a little voice in the back of her mind kept whispering, _You lost your only normal friend. _

**The night…**

Esinon didn't trust those cadets to go alone, she could tell it was a trap, so as soon as she heard them slink past her quarters she followed them. She leapt across another rooftop following them from a distance, part of her was worried Korkie would be furious if she showed up, showing she didn't trust them. On the other hand, he wouldn't be mad if she was right and she saved his life. She used the force to clear another gap between her and the next rooftop. She ran quickly along the shiny roof, falling behind the cadets, she got there just in time to see Korkie and Amis on the ground and Soniee and Lagos trapped in the arms of the guards.

She leapt off the rooftop, smashing her foot into the guard's head. She leapt up, knocking her feet into his head and pushing off, performing a roundhouse kick into the guard's head. The next guard lunged at her with a baton, she ducked, grabbing his arm and throwing him to the ground. She grabbed the baton, whipping it into the next guard's head, she saw Soniee struggling in the man's arms, she leapt up kicking him in the head, she landed arms close to her chest as the rest of the guards ran. She smirked to herself before walking over and helping Soniee up.

"Looks like the Prime Minister set you up," she said, pulling Soniee to her feet,

"That's treason," she replied,

"He's the leader of our system. He couldn't be the traitor," Korkie said,

"We need proof," Lagos said,

"We have the recording!" Soniee exclaimed, pulling the holo recorder, she pressed play and zoomed in on a hooded figure. The figure spun slowly so they could all see,

"That's no good, you can't see his face," Korkie huffed,

"Stop it right there," she said, Soniee froze the recording, Esinon pulled out her data-retrieval device. "Information retrieval, I need you to ID a hologram." the device beeped and started scanning, there were ups to being a Jedi. All the latest in fancy equipment. Slowly the resolution of the face improved, revealing the amethyst eyes of Prime Minister Almec.

"That's him! That's the Prime Minister!" Soniee exclaimed,

"We have to take this to my aunt and warn her," Korkie said, his face fell, "They know I talked to her." He sprinted into the palace behind them with the rest of them close on his tail. Esinon wormed her way to the front, not knowing what they would encounter entering the Duchess's office. "We're too late," She spotted a guard sprawled out on the crystal staircase, she crept down, testing his neck for a pulse, nothing.

"He's dead," she mumbled, feeling guilty she couldn't save him. Korkie made his way to the office, she put a hand out in front of him, "Korkie wait!" He shoved past her, "We don't know what's in there," Guards were splayed out all over the floor, and water dripped from Satine's fish tank all over the floor. It was obvious there had been a fight in here,

"They took her," Korkie growled, she could sense his rage melting into sadness and guilt. "This is all my fault," he sank to the ground,

"The rest of you check for any clues the Prime Minister might have left, Korkie, come with me. We're gonna think of a plan." Esinon said, dragging Korkie with her, she pulled him into a separate hallway. "Korkie, this is not your fault-"

"You don't understand! This is my fault," he whispered, hanging his head, she turned his head up so their eyes met, she tapped the scar on her forehead.

"I'm probably one of the only people who do understand, but we are going to find your aunt, ok? Trust me," he nodded, they both walked back out into the Duchess's office.

"What do we do now?" Amis asked,

"How are we supposed to find her?" Lagos asked,

"And who can we trust?" Soniee asked,

"I need all of you to calm down," Esinon said, she took a deep breath, trying to formulate a plan. "We know the Prime Minister's behind this,"

"After my aunt, he's the most powerful person on Mandalore," Korkie said, she paused quickly coming up with a plan.

"Well, then let's go talk to him."

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon strode confidently into the Prime Minister's office. She didn't exactly like her plan, but it was the only one she had. And who knew what they were doing to the Duchess. Anyways, if she let the Duchess die, Obi-Wan would get all mopey, sad, and distant and she didn't want to deal with that.

"Master Jedi, this is an unexpected pleasure." Almec greeted, steepling his fingers, "What can I do for you?"

"Actually, Prime Minister, it's what I can do for you," she said, motioning to the door. The four cadets were led in in handcuffs, escorted by the guardsmen. "I believe some of my students are involved in a conspiracy against you."

"Intriguing," Almec replied, a few minutes later the transport pulled up at the Mandalorian prison. Esinon forced a calm demeanor, thank goodness she had all kinds of training from Obi-Wan. She couldn't let Almec know how worried she was throwing these cadets into prison, because if he found her out, they were all as good as dead.

"You can't do this!" Korkie shouted, struggling against his guard. "We trusted you Master Windcaster!" Esinon forced as smirk as her gut clenched,

"Thank you for bringing the traitors to justice, Master Jedi," Almec said, his voice oozing with sweet poison. Esinon turned to face him,

"They mentioned Duchess Satine was their leader. We should arrest her too," she said,

"Do not worry, we have her in custody." He was the traitor, she needed to find the Duchess as quickly as possible.

"Really? Where?" she asked, a little too eagerly, Almec squinted at her for a moment,

"That is none of your concern." _Dang it._ "Now I must prepare a public statement about the Duchess and her crimes." The Prime Minister climbed onto a waiting transport with a few of his guards. If he wasn't going to tell her where the Duchess was, she would have to find Satine herself. As soon as he was gone she turned to the nearest guard,

"Officer, I need to interrogate the prisoners immediately," she said, placing her hands on her hips. The guard nodded and stepped aside, Esinon walked past rows of prisoners following another silver-clad guard. They finally made it to the cadets' cell, they all got up in a hurry to start talking, she put her hands up to stop them as the door closed. "Careful, we're being watched," she gave a slight nod towards the guard.

"Did he buy it?" Lagos asked,

"Have you found my aunt?" Korkie asked worriedly,

"Not exactly," Esinon paused as Korkie's face fell, "But I know they have her in custody."

"Where?" he asked,

"The Prime Minister wouldn't tell me," she replied,

"I knew this plan wouldn't work," Amis grumbled, leaning against the wall.

"Have a little faith," Esinon chided, she'd pulled off stupider stunts than this. "I'll find her. We'll just have to modify the plan a bit."

"How are you going to do that?" Soniee asked,

"Don't worry. You'll know when to act when I give the signal," she said, all the cadets stared at her in wonder, pondering if this was some military tactic she had learned over her years of being a Commander.

"What's the signal?" Korkie asked in a hushed voice,

"You'll know it when you see it," she said ominously and exited the cell. "You will take me to Duchess Satine," she commanded, with the slight wave of her hand.

"I will take you to Duchess Satine," the guard repeated in a robotic voice. He obeyed, leading Esinon down rows of prisoners; they went deeper and deeper into the prison until they reached a glass tower where a very tired Duchess was standing in handcuffs. A searchlight followed them as she approached the control panel, quickly assessing how to open the cell. She reached for it to begin lowering the cell,

"What are you doing?" one of the guards asked, reaching out for her. Esinon turned around, waving her hand,

"I need to interrogate the Duchess," she said, firmly, the guard fell back.

"You need to interrogate the Duchess," he repeated, she quickly lowered the cell, the Duchess stumbled out, falling to the ground. Esinon ran over in an attempt to check her vitals.

"Esinon, it's a trap!" she panted,

"I see you found the Duchess, youngling," Almec said, emerging from the shadows. Esinon jumped in front of the Duchess protectively. "You may stop playacting now, Sargent."

"Sir," the two guards snapped to attention, Esinon's fist clenched, how could she have been so stupid?

"Using a Jedi mind trick was a very poor decision," he said, as about ten more guards filled the room. "My guards have been trained to resist such archaic magic. And now you have revealed yourself as a conspirator. Set for stun!" the searchlight on the guard tower flashed towards her and fired, a stun blast hit her in the stomach sending her to her knees, panting. "You little fool," They fired again, and the world went black.

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon struggled against the guard who was attempting to hold her in place. Almec stepped towards Satine holding a datapad and stylus,

"Sign it. Sign the confession and admit to your treasonous ways."

"There is only one traitor to Mandalore here, Prime Minister, and that's you. You control the black market. You betrayed the public trust and used your office to accumulate wealth and power! It's shameful!" Satine snapped, Almec chuckled,

"Your idealism is inspiring my dear, but hopelessly naive. I established the black market for the people."

"That's absurd!" Esinon snapped, still trying to wrench free of the guards.

"The war is disrupting trade across the galaxy. The profits from the black market are being used to purchase humanitarian supplies for Mandalore. Think of it as a new tax in the interest of national security." Almec said, starting to pace the room.

"It's a tax for your benefit, Prime Minister. Where are these humanitarian supplies you speak of?" Satine asked, in a tired rage,

"Sargent put the shock collar on her." She struggled further, pulling the guard forward a few inches before she was ripped back. The guard placed the collar around Satine's pale neck, "My patience has worn thin Duchess. Maybe this will convince you." Almec pressed a button, sending electricity flowing freely through the Duchess's neck as she wailed in pain. Almec finally relinquished,

"I would rather die, than sign your confession," Satine panted,

"That can be arranged,"

"You're wasting your time," Esinon snapped, wrenching against her guard.

"Bring me those traitorous cadets," Almec commanded,

"No, you can't! They're just children!" Satine pleaded, now Esinon could set her plan in action. A few seconds later the four cadets were lead out by the guards,

"I'm afraid your nephew will have to suffer needlessly," Almec said, a sly grin on his face. "Put the shock collar on cadet Korkie," At that moment, Esinon had had enough waiting, as the guard drew closer to a slowly panicking Korkie, she rammed her head into the guard behind her. She flipped, jumping through her arms to bring them out from behind her body. She dodged a lunge from the guard behind her, elbowing him in the ribs and smashing her hands down over the head of another.

"Go!" Korkie shouted, all the cadets tackled their respective guards. Almec turned back to the control panel, but Esinon wasn't gonna let him hurt anyone else, she used the force to throw him off to the side into a pod of guards.

She used the force to call a shield into her hand, kicking the guard in the chest. She blocked a series of stun blasts from hitting herself and Satine. She rammed a pair of guards with the shield and threw the shield into a trio.

She used the force to drag another guard, throwing him into the glass cell, simultaneously dodging stun blasts. She did a backbend, the guard missing her in his lunge. She flipped behind the Duchess, avoiding more blasts, taking the shock collar off of her.

She spotted Almec creeping towards the control panel, she swept her leg underneath him, sending him to the ground. She quickly snapped the collar around his neck, smashing her hands down on the control panel.

"Got ya," she snarled, after a few seconds she relinquished, the guards rushed forward,

"Stop fighting!" Almec shouted as Esinon hovered her hands threateningly above the control panel. Satine finally stood up,

"Send for my personal guards," she said, Esinon nodded, getting to work on hailing them.

**A few minutes later…**

The Mandalorian guards were led away and Almec was in chains, the Duchess cranked the lever sending Almec up the tower. While everyone's backs were turned, Korkie gave her a quick hug.

"What was that for?" she asked,

"A thank you, for everything," he said, smiling softly at her. Satine turned around to face Esinon,

"As you can probably tell by now, I didn't bring you here to teach." she said, Esinon nodded, "I knew something was amiss, but I had no one to trust. I thought if I brought a Jedi, especially a friend of Senator Amidala's, we could solve this mystery together."

"I never doubted you, Duchess," Esinon said, beaming up at Satine.

"Neither did we," Korkie said, embracing his aunt in a tight hug.

**A few days later…**

Esinon watched the ship pull into the docking bay, standing in front of the Duchess and cadets. Korkie stepped forward, bowing slightly,

"It was an honor to serve with a Jedi Knight," he said, Esinon resisted the urge to roll her eyes, Korkie always called her a knight despite her telling him multiple times that she was a padawan. He did it now just to spite her and telling her that she was more skilled than some of the knights in the temple. She doubted that, but she let him do so anyway because he liked giving her a confidence booster.

"And it was my privilege to be your teacher," she said, giving a slight nod to him and the Duchess. She turned around at the hissing of a ship's catwalk. Anakin strolled down, she was honestly disappointed that Obi-Wan hadn't come to collect her, but he was probably still busy. She honestly missed her Master, she was used to being around him all of the time. She walked towards him,

"I hope this assignment wasn't too boring for you," he said sarcastically,

"Ah, it had its moments," she replied, tilting her head slightly,

"Huh, like the one, where you convinced untrained children to help you overthrow a corrupt government?" he asked, tossing her her lightsaber.

"That was a highlight," She replaced her saber on her belt, walking past Anakin onto the ship.

"It sounds pretty risky," he said, seemingly about to reprimand her. "You're lucky you didn't get hurt."

"Nothing you wouldn't have done," she replied, smirking, climbing onto the ship and hopping into the pilot's seat.

"Hang on, this isn't how this works," Anakin said, trying to scoot her out of the pilot's seat.

"It's my turn," she huffed, elbowing Anakin to let her drive.

"No, no, no, I'm older."

"You sure don't act like it." She heard Rex snort behind her, Anakin shot him a look as Esinon beamed up at both of them. "Please," She stuck out her bottom lip,

"Sir, respectfully, I don't think you're going to win this one," Rex said, Anakin sighed, finally collapsing into the co-pilot's chair,

"Yes!" Esinon cheered, pulling the ship up into the sky flying towards the exit of Sundari.

**One day later…**

When her dad said she wanted to meet Fives and Echo, she didn't really think he was serious. But here she was, sitting on the couch, smushed between a very angry Fives and an uncomfortable Echo. Fives had been edging increasingly closer to her whenever her parents would get close. He was glaring at her parents like they were battle droids, she put a hand on his forearm,

"Deep breath Fives, it's alright," she whispered, he relaxed a little bit. It had been an extremely awkward night so far, but when her parents asked her to come, she came, even though she wanted to sleep more than anything.

"So you both ARC troopers?" Daniel asked, rocking Thea gently in his arms.

"Yes sir," Echo replied, Daniel, glanced at the Scipian markings that were Fives's chest plate for the thousandth time. Esinon had had enough,

"I'm gonna go help mom," she said, patting Fives and Echo's shoulders and heaving herself off the couch. Fives looked at with pleading eyes for her not to leave, she shrugged and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Now that my daughter is gone, I was wondering, why do you have our markings on your chest plate?" Daniel asked,

"I admire your daughter very much sir," Fives replied, straightening a little bit.

"I'm very excited both of you are here, I've been curious to meet you both," he said, smiling, Thea cooed a little bit, shifting in her father's arms.

"Is there a reason sir?" Echo asked,

"I wanted to meet the men my daughter calls brother." he replied, "Make yourselves at home, I'm going to go help my wife." Echo and Fives glanced at each other, maybe Esinon's parents weren't so bad.

**Later that night... **

Esinon hugged her parents goodnight about to duck out of their apartment when her father stopped her,

"Esinon, you chose wonderful people to be friends with," he said, smiling, she nodded, she could sense Fives and Echo listening in on the other side,

"I did, didn't I?" she murmured to herself,

"They are welcome here anytime they want, Thea seems to like her new older brothers." her mother remarked, "Alright honey, we'll let you head back to the Temple, we love you."

"I love you too," Esinon said, ducking outside where Fives and Echo were trying to act inconspicuous. "See Fives? Not so bad," He chuckled,

"Not so bad, they did create you after all," he replied,

"I'm pretty great," Esinon said, placing a hand over her chest,

"Indeed you are Taz," Echo replied, ruffling her hair.

* * *

**MORE WINDCASTER SIBLINGS PLEASE, at this point, I'm getting adoption papers ready for Esinon's parents to adopt Echo and Fives officially ;) **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: This isn't relevant to the chapter but Attie has a serious sweet tooth and sneaks candy he's not supposed to have to his brothers and Jedi commanders. **

**Thank you for reading! Make sure to leave a review! **


	22. Witches of the Mist

**15 years earlier, Dathomir…**

"A girl, and a boy," Nova said, looking down at Freya her facial markings slick with sweat. Nova got nervous when Mother Talzin strode in to see her holding a baby girl and baby boy. She hoped that the boy could be returned to his father, instead of being slaughtered. Mother Talzin gave a squeeze to an exhausted Freya's hand, as she smiled, dazed. She stared down at the squirming children in Nova's arms,

"Have you chosen names yet sister?" Talzin asked. Freya nodded,

"For the girl, Jade, for the boy, Xavier," she said, Nova handing Jade to her, clutching Xavier tightly. The baby cooed, stretching a red tattooed hand towards her face. The baby gently clasped her finger. Talzin continued to stare at Xavier, paying little attention to Jade, trying to decide what to do with him.

"Return the boy to his father," Nova let out an internal silent sigh of relief, they wouldn't have to kill him. "Nova, can you get the boy to his father?"

"Yes Mother," she replied, Xavier cooed again, reaching up for Mother Talzin. Nova quickly moved the baby's arm back into his blanket, Freya hadn't even looked at Xavier, but that's what happened in the clan when a woman birthed a male. They were shunned and shamed for not bringing another girl into the clan, but since Freya was one of their best warriors, and had birthed a girl, Mother Talzin didn't seem to care. Nova carried Xavier away, "Don't worry little one, you'll be with your father soon." she whispered,

**Present-day, the **_**Triumph…**_

Wolffe held the wires of the broken starfighter with one hand, holding the other one out for a tool Xavier was supposed to hand him.

"Kid, can you hand me the hydrospanner?" he scrunched his hand a couple times trying to get his attention. "Commander," Xavier continued to ignore him. Wolffe sighed, finally rolling out from under the fighter, "Galaxy to Wolffe pup," he saw Xavier slumped over the toolbox, flinching in a dream. "Commander," he shook him gently, he mumbled in his sleep, flinching away from his touch.

"Dad," he mumbled, "I don't wanna leave him," Wolffe shook him a little harder,

"Kid, wake up," Wolffe shook him a little harder and Xavier finally shot up, "You ok?" Xavier looked around panickedly before calming down seeing he was in the hanger,

"Uh- yeah, bad dream, sorry," he muttered, rubbing his eyes. Wolffe grabbed the hydrospanner from the toolbox, Xavier had been having a lot of nightmares lately. He wondered what was going on in that kid's head sometimes.

"You wanna talk about it?" he asked, rolling back under the fighter.

"It's ok, I've been having that one since I was little. It's been coming up more frequently," he replied, tucking his knees underneath his chin.

"Well, I'm no Jedi, if it's really a problem you should probably talk to General Plo about it." Xavier nodded, he knew he should talk to Master Plo about it, but he didn't want to talk about it, but he wasn't gonna get any answers if he didn't ask.

**A few hours later…**

"Master Plo, are Jedi allowed to look for their birth family?" Xavier asked. Plo looked up from the chart of Sullust.

"Why do you ask?"

"I dunno, I have to come from somewhere, right? I know my dad's dead, but I've wondered about my mom. The nightsisters didn't kill me for a reason… I just want to know where I come from."

"Jedi are not really supposed to look for their birth family, besides, we wouldn't know where to look for them."

"How come Esinon gets to know her parents? If she gets to know hers, then why can't I go looking for mine?" he asked, sitting up a little straighter, feeling frustrated,

"Esinon is a special case, Xavier," Master Plo replied, trying to diffuse the situation. "Since her parents live on the same planet as her, she can't exactly help it."

"So my parents have to live on Coruscant for me to see them? To know who I am?"

"Xavier-"

"I'm going to my room, call me when we get to Sullust," he said, stalking out of the control room. Most of the troopers he passed shrunk back into the rooms they came from when their angry zabrak Commander stormed down the halls. It was unfair that Esinon got to know her home, her parents, and he was left in the dark. Was his childhood perfect? No, it was terrible, and traumatizing, frankly- but, he was kept alive for a reason… and he was going to find out why.

**A few hours later…**

Xavier fired at a pair of vulture droids as he pulled up over the bridge. He managed to hit the first, he flew through the explosion and fired, taking out the second. He pulled around the cruiser to fall in sync with Master Plo, he felt his ship jolt, he glanced behind him to see Ventress.

"Ventress," he growled,

"Split up," Master Plo commanded, the two fighters split apart, Ventress trailing Xavier.

"Looks like I'm Ventress's favorite!" Master Plo didn't respond. Of course, Ventress would trail him. Ever since the beginning of his padawan ship, he had always been Ventress's favorite, he guessed some things from their home planet couldn't be overcome. Xavier knew he couldn't do a ton while his ship was trailing smoke, but at least he didn't have eight droids trailing him as Master Plo did. He accelerated as they raced over the Republic cruiser, he dodged more fire from Ventress as the night sister drew closer and closer. Another blast almost hit his ship, he sighed, he needed help. "Master Plo! I'm gonna need some help!"

"Where are you?" He dove underneath the cruiser, heading towards a Separatist frigate; if she was gonna shoot at him, at least she would destroy her ship. POW!

"I'm hit!" he shouted, "I'm heading towards the Separatist flagship."

"I see you," Master Plo said, "I've got her," Xavier had completely lost control of his ship as he streaked into the hangar of the Separatist flagship. He came to a bumpy stop, most of the ship now on fire, and the cockpit starting to flood with smoke.

Xavier sucked in a quick breath, trying to pry open the hatch. He spotted Master Plo's ship entering the hangar, his Master quickly coming to his padawan's aid.

He helped Xavier pull the canopy off, and R7 came over, spraying him with a fire extinguisher,

"Thank you! Thank you R7, that's enough," Xavier coughed, waving extinguisher smoke from his face. He climbed out of his fighter, they both ignited their lightsabers as they started towards Ventress's fighter. She heaved herself out of her fighter, gripping her ribs.

"You're not looking well Ventress," Master Plo remarked,

"She never does," Xavier mumbled, but his Master decided to ignore his off-handed comments for the time being.

"Surrender Ventress, you have failed," he commanded,

"Never," she snarled, drawing her sabers and smashing them down upon the two Jedi. She flipped behind them, beginning to savagely attack, before beginning to back away, swinging her sabers defensively. Xavier wasn't willing to wait for her to attack, so he took matters into his own hands.

He lunged forward smashing his saber down upon Ventress's, she used the force to shove him back, and then it was Master Plo's turn. He leaped towards Ventress, one, two, jump, she used the force to throw him halfway across the hanger. Xavier lunged forward, teeth bared, "Your thoughts betray you," she cooed, as he pressed his saber harder against hers, shoving her towards the wall. He tried to push all thoughts of his family out of his mind, "You think of our home,"

"You don't know what goes on in my head," Xavier growled, throwing a kick to her chest. She pulled herself to her feet, breathing heavily, "You will never understand."

"You want to know where you come from, Xavier Grerum, I can help with that." He gripped his saber tightly, he should attack while her defenses were down,

"How?" he growled,

"I know who your mother is," she said, lowering her sabers slightly, he did the same, "Her name is Freya. Fifteen years ago, today, your mother gave birth to two children. Fifteen years ago today, your mother gave birth to you, and your sister." He froze, he had a sister? A twin sister? No, no, Ventress was lying, she had to be. How could she know his family, and did the Jedi know?

"Xavier!" Master Plo shouted, Xavier listened this time and slammed his saber down against Ventress's, using the force to throw her around him. She crashed into her fighter, she pulled herself up from her knees, clutching both arms around her ribs.

She screamed in rage, using the force to choke both of them. Xavier grappled at the invisible hands closing around his windpipe, a loud booming sounded from outside the ship and it shook and shuddered. It was enough to make Ventress drop both of them.

The flagship was being shot to pieces, and it was dipping to the right. The two Jedi crept forward towards Ventress, before taking turns lunging towards the night sister. The ship shook again, the two Jedi turned their heads to see a vulture droid streaking towards them.

They leapt out of the way as the ship dived downward. "Xavier! We have to go," Master Plo said, he struggled to his feet staring at Ventress.

"Are you telling the truth? About my mother?" he asked, clenching his teeth, Ventress didn't answer, "Tell me NOW!"

"Every word of it is true. Go to Dathomir if you don't believe me." she panted,

"Xavier! We have to go now!" Plo shouted, the padawan finally conceded, running to his fighter and escaping with his Master.

**A few days later…**

He had dug into his file, it was true. Every word. He had a twin sister, and his mother was still alive and well on Dathomir.

Why had the Jedi lied to him?

He threw another angry punch into the bag, repeatedly kicking and punching it.

He had been avoiding Master Plo all day, had he known? If he had known and denied him all the times that he had asked about his family, Xavier didn't know if he could forgive the Jedi.

"The bag is not a worthy opponent," he heard a voice say, he looked over to see Barriss standing in the doorway. She had probably noticed he had been gone from the apartment all day when he hadn't been sparring, he had been hunkering down in Esinon and Ahsoka's apartment.

"What else am I supposed to spar?" Xavier asked, throwing another punch to the bag, which missed and he stumbled forward. He wouldn't have missed if the senior Mirialan padawan hadn't used the force to remove his punching bag.

"You can spar me," she replied, folding her hands after placing the punching bag in the corner. Xavier doesn't exactly want to spar Barriss, since he wanted to punch something, and Barriss was more of a lightsaber and force use kind of gal, rather than a hand to hand.

"Are you sure? Don't you have a med check-in, in an hour?" he asked, tightening the wrappings on his hands.

"Positive," she replied, drawing her saber, Xavier drew his saber, igniting his emerald blade. He lunged at her, but she swiftly dodged it, Bariss was an excellent swordsman. Their sabers clashed sending sparks flying, Xavier flipped over Barriss, trying to land a kick, she spun out of the way, he stumbled forward, giving Barriss enough time to shove him to the ground and send him sprawling. "You're distracted,"

"Look who just caught up," he grumbled, jumping to his feet. He threw a couple of jabs at Barriss which she easily dodged,

"You won't get anywhere distracted, so tell me what's on your mind," she said, catching his fist. She was a lot stronger than she looked, he tried to pull free, but she twisted his arm behind him. "Tell me." She let go, Xavier put his hands on the back of his head pacing the room frustratedly.

"I found out that I have a twin sister," he said, running his hands down his face. "After all the times I asked Master Plo if I had any other family, any at all. He said no, and here I find out from Ventress that I have a twin sister. Not the way I was hoping to find out," He sat down on the training mats, resting his elbows on his knees. Barriss sat down next to him,

"And you're angry?" she asked,

"You could say that," he mumbled,

"At least you know where you come from. That's half of knowing who you are, and half as much as most of us will know," she said, getting up and leaving the training room.

**A few days later…**

"Double whammy," Echo mumbled, noticing Esinon hanging upside down from his bunk, her brow furrowed in her signature crinkle. "What's wrong?"

"Hmm?" she asked, "Oh, nothing's wrong, why would you think anything's wro-" he tapped the center of her forehead,

"Crinkle, you can't hide from me vod'ika." he said, "So what's wrong?" She pulled herself up from her upside-down position and sat cross-legged on his bed.

"Well, Xavier just told me he found out he has a twin sister."

"A sister?" Esinon nodded,

"A night sister,"

"Who told him?" Echo asked,

"Ventress,"

"And he believed her?" he asked in shock, she nodded,

"Well, he dug up his file in the temple, and he has a mother, sister, and father… when Master Plo and the other Jedi told him otherwise. He's understandably angry." she said, twirling a wispy around her finger.

"I would be too if I had a sister that I didn't know about," Echo replied, she nodded, her brow furrowing. "Why didn't the Jedi tell him? Wolffe said that Commander Grerum always wanted to know more about his family." She shrugged her shoulders,

"Something about a rule of attachments I don't understand the way I should. Jedi aren't really supposed to know their birth families. I'm a special case." she mumbled, "I just don't know what to do, he's upset and at odds with Master Plo and Master Kenobi."

"Well where has Xavier been while you've dealt with all the stuff with your parents?" he asked, she sighed smiling,

"Right by my side,"

"So I would suggest that you stay by his side," he replied, patting her knee. She got a big grin on her face, jumping off the bunk,

"You're right,"

"I usually am," he smirked, she rolled her eyes fondly,

"I'm gonna go see him now, thanks Echo." she said, running towards the exit, her comlink buzzed and she stopped in her tracks. "Windcaster," Xavier's voice came over the comlink,

"Esinon," he paused, sucking in a harsh breath, his voice choked with tears. Her stomach flipped,

"Xavier, what's wrong?" she asked slowly,

"It's Knox- he's dead," the comlink went dark, no… no, no, no, not Knox. He couldn't be dead, not her clan member, not the sweet little nautolan who had been the first to talk to her when she finally got assigned.

"No, no, no," she whispered, shaking her head and backing towards the door. Echo reached out an arm towards her, "He can't be dead, he can't be," she murmured, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Esinon…"

"He can't be dead!" she shouted, tears streaming down her face. Echo pulled her to a tight hug, one hand on her head,

"It's ok," he whispered, her whole body shaking with sobs,

"He can't be dead," she whimpered,

"It's ok, it's gonna be ok," Echo looked up to see Fives entering the barracks. He looked confusedly and worriedly down at the trembling padawan in his arms. Echo quickly signed to him,

'_Her clan member Knox died,'_ Fives nodded and walked over and pulled Echo into a hug, smushing Esinon in the middle.

"He can't be dead," she whispered,

"It'll be alright Taz, I promise," Fives whispered,

**The next day…**

Esinon gripped Xavier's hand tightly as a shuttle pulled down to the landing bay, a group of clone commandos came down the catwalk, flanked by two coffins.

"There were no survivors on Devaron," Boss reported, Esinon placed her hand on Knox's casket, she leaned in close,

"Say hello to Qui-Gon for me," she whispered,

"Everyone was killed, including Master Halsey and his padawan."

"In the past, only Dooku's assassin was capable of such efforts but she was presumed dead at the battle of Sullust." Master Gallia remarked, Obi-Wan glanced at her,

'_How are you holding up?' _he asked through their bond. She hadn't had much time to talk to Knox after the war started, but before, they had been almost inseparable.

'_I'll be alright, I want to find whoever killed them before they hurt anyone else.' _she replied, he nodded, turning his attention back to Delta and the coffins. The funeral probably wouldn't be a few days.

"Not everything is not what it seems." Master Plo said she heard Xavier scoff. Everything surrounding his family right now was still tender, and Knox's death wasn't helping. "There may be a new threat. Something or someone has eluded us… perhaps a newly appointed Sith lord." Esinon's stomach dropped, they did not need another Sith lord, not after only just killing Ventress… unless she was still alive.

"This is not the work of a Sith Lord or a Jedi." Obi-Wan began, "But a reckless, impulsive, animal." She felt Xavier's hand flinch, she knew how many people had looked at him like that. A zabrak from Dathomir, his red skin, so many people only saw him as an animal. She squeezed his hand reassuringly, Master Kenobi hadn't meant to hurt Xavier's feelings, there was a lot that the young zabrak liked to keep to himself.

Despite Xavier being a generally loud person, he was quiet about his past and didn't like it when people brought up Ventress and the nightsisters. It must have been weird to know he has a sister of the people who murdered his father. They all made their way back inside, getting out of the rain that pounded over their heads.

**A few days later…**

Esinon was shocked when she received her briefing. She was being sent to Dathomir to investigate the massacre on Devaron, which was going to be difficult in of itself because of Knox's death which was still fresh, but they figured out who killed Master Halsey and Knox.

A massive zabrak… from Xavier's village on Dathomir. Let's just say Xavier didn't take that well, especially all the looks he had been getting in the temple recently. It had taken a long sparring session with Wolffe to keep him from snapping.

Xavier got quiet when he was angry, what shocked her more was the fact that he was being sent with her to Dathomir.

Yes, it wasn't a good idea to send her alone to a planet full of witches and aggressive men, but sending Xavier with her?

Could the council be more insensitive? To be honest ever since the war had started, the council seemed out of touch with their fellow Jedi. Some of their methods she had questions about, some of the parts of the code she had questions about. But oftentimes, she was just a kid with a lot of questions, and she didn't get a lot of answers.

What further shocked her is that their respective Master's weren't coming with them. Cody was not gonna be happy. Esinon pulled the ship down through the atmosphere, she needed to heed Echo's advice and be there for Xavier right now. She pulled down over towards the mountains,

"There's my village," Xavier mumbled, as they flew towards the village tucked into the mountains,

"Do you think they'll remember you?" she asked tentatively,

"I'm not sure, my father was considered sort of a maverick," he replied, crossing his arms over his chest. They walked out of the ship, starting into the village, "I would be on guard, just in case they don't." She nodded, hopefully, the men wouldn't attack them. She knew that females were dominant on this planet, so the males might be afraid of her. "Let me handle the negotiations." They finally reached the village center and a bunch of zabraks jumped down from the surrounding roofs pointing large spears at the two Jedi padawans. Xavier shifted his eyes calmly among his people, "My name is Xavier Grerum, son of Aziel Grerum. I have returned." He put a hand on Esinon's shoulder, noticing her fingers were tingling over her lightsaber. The chief of the village stepped out from his hiding spot on a roof,

"Xavier? Is that really you?"

"Yes brother Viscus, it is me." Viscus jumped down from his spot, slowly approaching Xavier as the brothers parted. He placed a hand on Xavier's cheek, studying his deep amethyst eyes.

"It really is you," he whispered, he glanced at Esinon who was shifting her eyes warily among the muscular men. "Who is this," he growled,

"My friend brother, we have come here for answers."

"What could Jedi want from us?" he asked, still keeping one eye on Esinon.

"We need information," she said, stepping forward, her negotiator upbringing taking over. "A man from this village murdered two Jedi. We need to know where he is."

"What makes you think he's one of ours?" Viscus asked Xavier sighed,

"The Jedi council knows he's from our village. We've seen him," he explained, Viscus sighed, running a tired hand down his face.

"Mother Talzin should know of his whereabouts. One of her women took him as a mate," he replied,

"We are sorry for the intrusion," Esinon said, "Thank you for not attacking us." All of the men looked around at each other, the crowd parting as the strong female walked amongst them. She strode towards the ship, "Are you coming, Xavier?" He nodded,

"I'll be there in a second," he replied, she nodded, giving him some space and reentering the ship. Xavier turned back to Viscus,

"You came here for answers, I hope you find what you're looking for Xavier," he said, resting a hand on his shoulder. Xavier nodded, "Your father was a good man, he would be very proud of you."

"I know," he whispered, "Thank you Viscus." He nodded and watched Xavier enter the ship and the two Jedi take off.

"Who's Mother Talzin?" Esinon asked,

"She's the leader of an ancient order of witches that live here called the nightsisters."

"Your planet is all kind of fun, warrior-like men, witches," she mumbled,

"I'm glad you think so," Xavier teased,

**A few minutes later…**

The fact that they were about to see Mother Talzin and the night sister, along with possibly his mother and sister was certainly enough to get both of his hearts pumping into his throat. Esinon pulled the ship down for a smooth landing,

"I don't know a ton about Mother Talzin, but don't expect to be welcome here," Xavier said,

"I can always have a little girl to girl talk with her if things don't work out," Esinon replied, tossing her lightsaber up and catching it.

"I'm not gonna count on your negotiating skills," he grumbled,

"I am the Negotiator's padawan, I got his."

"Mother Talzin and the nightsisters are more of a kill now, ask questions later."

"It'll be fine," Esinon reassured him, '_probably.' _She was concerned about running into Xavier's family here. Viscus hadn't seemed very happy when he had had to leave. They got off the ship walking through the mist and red bare-boned trees. Esinon could sense life all around her, she took a deep breath, sensing Xavier's anxiety. He suddenly put a hand out in front of her, glancing up at a bare tree branch where two red-cloaked heads disappeared,

"Careful, we've got company," he whispered, several night sister leapt down from the trees, aiming knives and bow and arrows at the two Jedi. They both held up their hands in a placating gesture as the nightsisters snatched their lightsabers. She could see Xavier's eyes shifting, he was trying hard not to let fear creep up into his throat while surrounded by the people who had murdered his father. A sister behind them, proded their backs with her knives,

"Come with us Jedi," she said, her voice slightly echoing. They were led up a set of stairs into a large temple, bow and arrows growing increasingly closer to them as they entered a small room where Mother Talzin was seated at a table.

"Padawan Windcaster, welcome." she greeted, how she knew Esinon's name, she didn't know.

"Mother Talzin, thank you for your hospitality," Esinon replied, putting a hand on Xavier's shoulder, he hadn't said a word since they entered.

"I believe you have a question for me." Mother Talzin said, rising from her chair, her red robes fluttering around her.

"Yes, you're right. We have reports of a Dathomir male on the loose. He already killed two Jedi, perhaps you know who he is?"

"Master Jedi, we have no control over the males-"

"That is NOT true," Xavier snarled, leaping out of his chair. Instantly every weapon in the room was trained on him. "You reigned supreme over my village for years. You killed my father,"

"Our clan has been in exile for years," Esinon pushed Xavier back into his chair, rising out of her own. She placed her hands on the table, leaning towards the regal night sister,

"Don't play innocent with me Mother. We know that females are dominant on this planet. I know that nothing here happens without your clan knowing about it." she said,

"To think Jedi collect their facts from mere rumors."

"So all our years of study at the temple and my friend's first-hand accounts of your reign of terror are just rumors Mother? And you call two dead Jedi rumors? One of them was our friend. We don't wish to quarrel with you, just tell us where the male is and we'll be on our way." Mother Talzin made her way back to her seat, where a crystal ball was waiting, she waved her hands over it, closing her eyes and falling into some sort of trance.

"Savage." she murmured, the yellow-skinned zabrak appeared, "Savage Opress."

"Mother?" Talzin opened her eyes looking at Esinon,

"You will find him on Toydaria."

"Thank you," Esinon said, calling her saber to her hand.

"I have another question," Xavier said, this wasn't the best time, every second they wasted they could lose Savage!

"You have many questions and too little time," Mother Talzin replied, Esinon's mind was racing, how could she get Savage and get Xavier the answers he needed.

"Xavier, stay here, I'll come back and get you soon as I have custody of Savage."

"Esinon, are you sure?" she nodded,

"Positive, Mother, may I have a quick word?" Esinon asked, Mother Talzin nodded, they went off to a secluded corner. "If you even so much as touch him, trust me, there is no place in the galaxy you can hide from me." Talzin smiled softly,

"You have a great fire in you little one, it will serve you well." Esinon glared at her for a moment and sprinted out of the temple and onto the ship. To Toydaria.

* * *

Xavier shifted in his seat uncomfortably in his chair as Mother Talzin returned,

"Child, what do you seek?" she asked, Xavier sat up a little straighter.

"Fifteen years ago, twins were born to a woman of this clan. My intel says her name is Freya, she mated with a man named Aziel Grerum. I want to see my mother and sister." he demanded,

"Grerum… I remember you." she said, "Come with me, I will bring you to your mother and sister." Mother Talzin rose to her feet, walking out the room with Xavier close on her tail. He felt bad for leaving Esinon to take Savage, but he knew that she could handle herself. Xavier followed Mother Talzin through the opening cavern, past different nightsisters, and green swirling pools. "Why do you wish to find your family now?"

"I recently discovered about my sister, from one of your own actually," he said, his eyes still shifting warily among the nightsisters that surrounded him.

"Do you remember her name?"

"Ventress, she was presumed dead at the battle of Sullust." Talzin nodded thoughtfully, they finally reached a pair of red-clad night sister. The first was visibly older with a long red train surrounding her legs, and her face was visible with no hood covering it like the latter.

"Xavier, this is your mother Freya, and your sister Jade." Jade gave him a slight nod, but Freya just glared at him. Mother Talzin nodded to them both before leaving,

"It's nice-"

"Don't start." Freya growled, "You bring shame on me, you bring shame on your sister, you bring shame on this clan with your incompetent filth." She snarled, storming away. Xavier hung his head,

"I've always wanted to meet you," Jade said quietly, Xavier looked up at her. She removed the hood from her head, she blinked her amethyst eyes a few times.

"Really?" She nodded slowly, her eyes shifted around the room noticing the number of eyes that had fallen on them.

"Come on," she grabbed his wrist and pulled him through the cavern until they reached a secluded section. "Sorry about Mom, things are… different here." She said, sitting down in front of a swirling green pool, Xavier sat down next to her. "When one of us gives birth to a male, it brings shame down upon the mother and the clan. That's why mom got upset."

"I get it, I spent a long time being upset about…" he motioned around him, "all of this."

"Mom never talked about you, I found out from Nova when I kept having visions of you."

"You're force sensitive?" he asked, surprised that both he and his sister hadn't been taken. Jade nodded,

"Makes sense since we're twins, the Jedi never came to collect me though." She took a deep breath, drawing her knees to her chest, "How'd you find out about me?"

"I started asking around at the temple, I found out from Ventress. She's dead now, but… I did some digging at the temple and found my file where they had both you and our mom recorded when they told me otherwise." He sighed, he could tell she was sensing his anger, "Sorry,"

"It's alright when I asked about other family, mom would get angry, and when I'd ask mother, she'd shush me and send me on my way. It's… strict here."

"You don't like it?" he asked,

"We don't get to leave Dathomir. I doubt that in all the time I'll exist in the galaxy, I'll ever leave Dathomir. Your ship, it's actually one of the few I've ever seen." she said, she looked over at him, "What's it like out there? In the galaxy? How many planets have you been to? How many kinds of people are there? Are they nice?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down," he teased, smiling at his curious sister. "Well, when I'm not fighting in the war… the galaxy is incredible. There are so many people and places, and some people are mean, but there are a lot of great people in the galaxy. It's incredible,"

"What's been your favorite place?" she asked, her amethyst eyes wide with wonder.

"Ilum, it's where Jedi younglings go to get their kyber crystals. Most people think the planet is a barren wasteland of cold and ice, and it is, but the kyber crystal cave is incredible. I've never seen anything like it, or felt the force so strong yet peaceful."

"Wow… the sounds incredible. I always secretly wanted the Jedi to come and take me so I could actually get out of here." As they continued to talk Xavier began to realize that Jade's life was far from perfect, but so was his. They continued to talk until they were interrupted by Mother Talzin,

"Xavier, your friend has returned." Behind Mother Talzin's fluttering robes was Esinon, clutching her ribs and walking with a slight limp. Her whole body was tattooed with bruises including a nasty hand shaped one circling her neck. Xavier jumped to his feet rushing to Esinon,

"Esinon! What happened?"

"Savage, he got away," she mumbled, he could sense there was more to it,

"Esinon, is there something more?"

"I'll tell you on the ship," she said, turning and starting her slow walk towards their ship. Mother Talzin strode away as well, Xavier turned back to Jade,

"I'm really sorry, but I have to go," he said softly,

"It was nice to meet you though," she said, with a melancholy smile, Xavier pulled her into a tight hug and whispered in her ear,

"I'll come back for you," She nodded as they parted and watched her twin brother sprint away.

* * *

Esinon flicked a few switches prepping the ship for takeoff. Right now everything felt empty and cold. After the news she received. She just wanted to sleep, and never wake back up. Xavier came sprinting into the ship,

"Esinon, what's going on?" he asked,

"My mom, she's dead," she whispered,

"Esinon I'm-"

"Can you fly? I want to sleep for a while," Xavier nodded and let his friend leave. He knew that she needed space, and he was gonna give it to her. He pulled the ship up towards the atmosphere and they were off. Esinon pulled back the covers of the meager bed on the Toydarian ship she had taken, she slipped into bed, clasping her crystal tightly. She let herself succumb to the darkness, welcoming it in fact.

* * *

In the dreamscape, her body didn't hurt like it did while she was awake, but every bruise and scrape was still present, and it was the first thing Qui-Gon noticed when she found him. They were out by a lake, it looked like they were still on Mandalore, and she could tell because she could sense her Master and the Duchess in the cave behind them.

"Little runner? Are you ok?" he asked, eyeing the bruise around her neck. Esinon shook her head, sitting down beside him on the shore of the lake. "What happened?"

"Don't you know these things?" she mumbled, tucking her knees under her chin.

"Just tell me, before I go grab a medkit," he grumbled, Esinon rolled her eyes,

"This is a dream 'member? It doesn't hurt."

"Tell me anyway," he replied,

"Dooku has a new assassin, a zabrak from Dathomir. I thought I could take him on my own, I was wrong," she said,

"And you did it for Xavier?" She nodded,

"He deserves to know his family as much as I do," she replied, squeezing her arms a little tighter around her legs.

"Did something else happen?" he asked slowly, she nodded,

"My mom… she died in a speeder crash today," she mumbled,

"And you don't seem overly bothered by this…" Qui-Gon said, choosing his words carefully.

"Why should I be? Mom wasn't around until I was thirteen, and she seemed pretty content on dumping me on a planet where I almost died. So why should I waste tears on missing someone who never missed me."

"Esinon, despite your reservations, your mother loved you. And it tore her apart inside when she had to leave you," he said softly,

"I can't let it out Master," She whispered, her voice choked with unshed tears. "What will the council think?"

"Sometimes the council may fail us, I find it more beneficial to trust in the force above all things." She chuckled softly,

"You're dead though,"

"And thus, wiser than you," he replied, pulling her closer, she chuckled to herself and watched the moon reflect on the rippling water.

* * *

**A few hours later, the Jedi Temple…**

"That was extremely reckless, you could have been killed!" Master Windu reprimanded, as the two padawans stood in front of him in the high council chamber. Both of them refused to meet the eyes of their masters, "We sent you in a pair for a reason, this assassin killed two Jedi."

"Perhaps we should give the padawans a chance to explain themselves." Master Mundi suggested Master Windu ran a tired hand down his face.

"Alright, what spurred this on?" he asked, Esinon stepped forward before Xavier could speak.

"It was my idea Masters, Xavier was seeking answers about his family. I thought I could handle Opress on my own." She paused, her eyes refocusing on her war-scuffed boots. "I was wrong,"

"Esinon wouldn't have had to leave me if I hadn't gotten curious. I let feelings get in the way of purpose and duty, I'm truly sorry," Xavier said,

"We both are,"

"Troubling this is," Master Yoda, folding his claws in his lap. "A fickle thing, curiosity is. Time away from the battlefield is what you two need, reflect on your actions in archive security you can Padawan Windcaster, and in the creche, you can Padawan Grerum."

"Yes Master," both of them replied, bowing to their Grand-master,

"Both of you are dismissed," Master Windu said, the two Padwan's bowed and left the high council room.

**One day later, the Senate building…**

Palpatine took a slow deep breath, a smile creeping onto his face. He could feel the anger, the grief, the pain, the ever-growing darkness. His plan was working. He could feel Esinon's pain that she was trying to and failing, to shove away. The blast door opened and Mas Amedda coming striding in,

"My Lord, the Jedi Council is not permitting Windcaster to attend her mother's funeral as you predicted." He announced,

"Good," Palpatine said, closing his eyes and soaking in the darkness,

"She, Kenobi, Skywalker, and Tano depart to investigate an old distress call tomorrow afternoon," Mas informed him,

"The conflict is strong within her," he murmured, '_because if I cannot have Skywalker, I will have Windcaster.'_

* * *

**Well that was fun, I've been interested in the nightsisters and night brother's dynamics ever since I saw Monster. **

**That moment when you draw a random nightsister and all of a sudden Xavier has a twin sister? *Clap, clap, clap* hooray for accidental character development!**

**and I'm probably doing a chapter later where we get a little bit more into Esinon's clan, it's members and their dynamic. **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: order 66 never happens. how bout that? (I wrote this chapter right after "shattered" aired, so the feels are still raw for past me)**

**Another thing I feel is important you know. Esinon has two aesthetics. Sometimes she's black widow and other times she Oh from Home. She can kick your butt but will also dance around you yelling BADA! If you've never seen Home, do yourself and favor and watch it. It's one of my favorites. **

**Another movie yall should watch if you're as bored as I am is Atlantis. Watch it for the sole line of "I got your four food groups. Beans, bacon, whiskey, and lard!" **

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review!**


	23. Overlords

**The next day…**

It was taking all of Esinon's willpower to not hurl the stack of datapads she was holding into the nearest wall. She wasn't going to get to go to her mom's funeral, it was taking all of her strength not to fall apart.

"Esinon," Obi-Wan said, she sighed internally,

"Yes Master?" she asked, stuffing a fake smile onto her face. Her Master's face was laced with concern as she continued to walk down the shelves and replaced datapads.

"Are you… alright?" he asked,

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" She closed off their bond, retreating into the walled-off part of her mind. He caught her wrist, forcing her to turn around,

"I heard about your mother, I'm so sorry," he said softly, it did look like he meant it, but a lot of emotions were still raw because the council wasn't allowing her to go to her mother's funeral. Her comlink had been piling with calls from her dad,

"I don't have time to think about it right now," she replied, pulling out of his grip and continuing down the archive shelves.

"Esinon, I know you're upset-"

"So now you're telling me how to feel?" she asked, hurt lacing her voice, "I'm not upset," she said, profusely, "My mother and I never really had a relationship, much to the glory of the council." He opened his mouth to speak but she interrupted, "Oh wait, it's attachments Jedi can't have right? But what is an attachment? Have the Jedi really established what that is? Am I not allowed to have friends and family, or is it only romantic partners? The Jedi should really figure out what they mean before they tell us. How am I supposed to follow a religion that doesn't even know what they believe yet?"

"Esinon now isn't the time for the talk about attachments-"

"Was that what my mother was? Another attachment that needed to be severed? Because right now the council doesn't seem overly concerned about the fact that my sister is going to grow up never knowing her mother, or that my father now had to figure out how to be a single dad and be the Senator for Scipio. He needs me, not some distress signal that hasn't been used since the Jedi-Mando wars! That's something that does not need my immediate attention, what does is my father and my sister."

"Esinon. This is not the time to argue. It is your duty as a Jedi to stay faithful to the order, purpose before feelings. When you chose to become a Jedi-"

"What choice?" Esinon whispered, her voice choked with tears, "There was no choice for me." With that she disappeared from his view, Obi-Wan sighed, sinking down against a shelf. He ran tired hands through his hair, how was he going to handle this new challenge?

"What am I supposed to do now?"

* * *

Esinon had the full intent of working on her presentation for mechanics, but she was too emotionally exhausted after her argument with Obi-Wan and everything surrounding her mother's death. As soon as she hit her bed, she passed out asleep.

* * *

The first thing she became aware of was she was hungry, extremely hungry. It wasn't super unnatural because she was speedster and was hungry a lot of the time, but what was unnatural was the fact that there was something over her mouth. Her hands were in cuffs and her body was stiff and aching but she refused to move. Her eyes were closed in a deep meditative state, so she couldn't figure out where she was. Just as she was thinking of a way that she could figure out where she was, her eyes whipped open to a dark chilling presence. Her heartbeat quickened as footsteps grew closer, she could see she was in a cell of some sort. Had the person whose memory this been captured?

The footsteps grew closer and she resisted the urge to shiver as a wind blew over her bare back. A cloaked figure stopped in front of the cell, steepling their pale fingers.

"Maul? Can you hear me?" she nodded slowly, Maul? Where had she heard that name before… he waved a hand, the muffler around her mouth and the handcuffs undoing themselves. She stared down at her hands in her lap, rubbing her wrists. Her hands were large, red, and tattooed, like Xavier's… "Get up. We have training." The voice snapped, she obeyed, like a quiet servant. She followed him through the halls, with more questions than answers. Like every time in her life. Always more questions than answers.

* * *

"Rex? Rex can you hear me?" Anakin asked, Esinon peered out the viewport window of their ship, there was still no sign of the Jedi cruiser they were supposed to meet. "We're at the rendezvous point awaiting your arrival. Where are you?"

"Sir… we are at the rendezvous point, and there's no sign of you on our scanners." Rex replied, Esinon's brow furrowed, where was the cruiser if not here?

"Oh come on, that's impossible," Anakin said, "Somethings wrong, we're at the exact coordinates where the distress signal originated, but there's nothing here." Esinon felt her kyber crystal heat up against her chest, throbbing, pulsing, like a second heartbeat against her chest.

"Something's coming…" Esinon murmured,

"Rex is at the exact same coordinates and he's not here."

"Things are getting interesting," Obi-Wan remarked, stroking his beard. The hologram of Rex began to glitch and splutter,

"-Unable to find you- sir?"

"Something's blocking the signal," Ahsoka said, the thrumming of Qui-Gon's kyber crystal grew more steady, she could see a flickering light underneath her tunic. The crystal was glowing… the force was growing stronger. The ship glitched and went dark, Obi-Wan and Anakin started flipping switches trying to get the ship to restart.

"Not good," Obi-Wan muttered, Esinon placed a hand over her pulsing crystal to dim the light in the dark ship,

"Everything's dead, even the life support," Ahsoka said, both padawans rising to their feet.

"This is really strange," Esinon murmured, the ship coughed and sputtered coming back to life and humming gently.

"There. See? Nothing to be concerned about," Obi-Wan said, patting Esinon's hand. Qui-Gon's crystal began to thrum harder, she peered out the viewport to see a giant mass sitting in space.

"Then what is that?" she asked, pointing out the window, the ship jerked and started to go haywire as they were drawn towards the mass.

"It's pulling us towards it," Ahsoka exclaimed, Esinon rolled her eyes,

"That's really helpful Ahsoka," she shot her a glare, the mass began to shift and open a bright light blinding all of them as they drew further and further in.

"Everyone strap yourselves in!" Obi-Wan shouted, Esinon listened as the pounding of her crystal grew stronger and stronger, _Is he the one?- He's been chosen- balance eludes you- Esinon! This isn't you! Snap out of it! Come back to me please!- Join me, and together we can bring balance and peace to the universe!- you are now mine!- _the galaxy went dark.

* * *

Esinon groaned, gripping her head as she came to. She blinked her eyes a couple of times as sunlight streamed over her face,

"I must have blacked out," Anakin mumbled,

"Then who landed the shuttle?" Obi-Wan asked Esinon glanced out the window to see they were safe on the ground.

"Don't look at me," Esinon said groggily, her crystal had stopped throbbing and the screaming of voices had ended. They all looked at Ahsoka, she shook her head and shrugged. Ahsoka flipped a few switches

"It looks like we're on some sort of… organic mass. All of our readings indicate that it's bigger than an asteroid. But at least the atmosphere is breathable." she explained,

"This is getting stranger by the minute, I can't even get a lock on where we are in the galaxy… or if we are even in our own galaxy," Obi-Wan said,

"What…" Anakin murmured, "Well, all the ship's systems are fine, but nothing's working."

"Esinon," a voice whispered, she whipped her around looking for the source of the noise,

"Did one of you say something?" she asked, all of them shook their heads. She pressed the button to the catwalk,

"Where are you going?" Obi-Wan asked,

"For a look around," She strolled down the catwalk out onto the green planet. She was immediately hit with a warm wave of the force, it was strong here, very strong. The planet was filled with green trees, and waterfalls spilling over from floating rocks, everything was glittering with the force, it was so… peaceful, but it was also foreboding. Something was coming. Obi-Wan put a pair of binocs to his eyes,

"I saw something glimmer on that hill," Ahsoka said, pointing to a floating rock on the hill.

"Are you the one?" a woman's voice asked, Esinon whipped around, searching for the sound of the voice. She shook her head, now she was hearing things… "Are you the one?" Anakin had a reaction that time too,

"Did you guys hear that?" Both Obi-Wan and Ahsoka shrugged, Esinon nodded slowly,

"I didn't hear anything," Obi-Wan said, returning to the binocs.

"Are you the one?" the voice asked again, they all whipped around to see a glowing woman standing in their midst. She had flowing green hair, with a golden headdress, pale skin, and a certain regality about her. Her force aura was so warm, she could tell they all sensed it.

"Hello," Obi-Wan greeted,

"Who are you?" Anakin asked, placing his hands on his hips.

"I am Daughter," she said, placing dainty hands over her chest. Esinon cocked her head, this was getting weirder and weirder by the second. "Are you the one?" she asked again, directing her question at Anakin again.

"Uh… the one what?" Anakin asked,

"I will take you to him," The Daughter said,

"Him who?" Esinon asked,

"Did you bring us here?" Obi-Wan inquired,

"Only he can help you. There is little time. Follow me." she looked up at the sky for a moment, "We must find shelter before nightfall." The Daughter turned on her heel and began striding up the mountainous path.

"And we thought the planet was weird," Anakin mumbled, nodding towards the daughter, "Get a load of this one,"

"We'll be fine, as long as we stick together," Obi-Wan assured all of them.

**A few hours later…**

They continued their trek up the side of the mountain, the sun continuing to sink in the sky, and the trees and plants rotting as the time passed.

"Have you noticed the seasons seem to change with the time of day?" Obi-Wan asked, Esinon nodded, as another plant withered next to her.

"And there are no animals," Ahsoka muttered, surveying their surroundings.

"And you sense it?" he asked, Anakin nodded,

"Mhmm, since we arrived. The force is… unusually strong here."

"An intersection, unlike anything I've ever felt before. Be wary." Obi-Wan advised Esinon quickened her pace a little bit to catch up with the daughter,

"Excuse me, but who exactly are you taking us to?" she asked,

"The Father of course," she replied,

"Of course," Ahsoka remarked,

"And what exactly are you?" Obi-Wan asked,

"We are the ones who guard the power. We are the beginning, the middle, and the end." The Daughter explained,

"Glad she cleared that up for us," Anakin joked, they continued walking into a darker part of the planet where all of the plants were dying. She heard a rumbling, "Look out!" Anakin shoved both her and the Daughter out of the way of a giant rock that was hurtling towards them. All three of them were thrown to their feet, "Are you ok?" Anakin asked, helping her to her feet.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Esinon turned her attention to the daughter, she reached out a hand and touched her shoulder, "Are you-" The daughter wrenched away from her touch,

"It is forbidden for you touch me," she snapped, Esinon put her hands up in a placating gesture,

"Sorry," she muttered, the daughter glanced upward from where the rock had come from.

"That was my brother's work," so there were three of them so far, a father, a daughter, and son. "You are in great danger. Wait for me. Do not leave this place." She turned on her heel and left the two Jedi standing there.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Esinon shouted, throwing her hands up, "You can't just leave us here!" Anakin's comlink beeped,

"Anakin, Esinon are you alright?" Obi-Wan asked,

"Yeah, we're fine," Anakin replied, rubbing a thumb over his brow. "But our friend here has RUN OFF! Go back to the ship, and see if you can send a distress signal. Esinon and I will follow her and find out how to get off this rock."

"And if this is a trap?" Obi-Wan asked,

"Then we're not gonna stick around to find out," Esinon said,

"Esinon, Anakin, stop. Wait for us to find another way around to meet you." Anakin promptly turned off the comlink,

"Come on Speeds, let's go," he said, starting after the daughter.

**A few hours later…**

Night had fallen, and the weather had taken a turn for the worse. A violent thunderstorm raged overhead with lightning bolts coming dangerously close to her and Anakin as they sprinted towards a cave. The rotted trees were now glowing silver as they bounded over rocks and dead bushes, hurtling towards a cave. They leapt into the opening, ducking out of the rain. They both poked their heads out, a flickering light, a building on a mountain.

"Whoever we're looking for is in that monastery," he said,

"And what do you think we'll find there?"

"The daughter, I'm hopin', maybe the father she talked about." Esinon shrugged,

"We've got a long walk ahead of us, well, ahead of you. I can run faster than the speed of sound," Anakin chuckled,

"Yeah, that's funny, you're giving me a lift," he replied, she rolled her eyes playfully and grabbed his shoulder. She rushed them both to the top of the monastery, they bounded up the steps of the eerie building. The force didn't feel warm anymore, not like the daughter, it felt… lukewarm. Not cold like the dark side, but not warm either. A balance of the two.

She stuck close to Anakin, hand hovered over her lightsaber, Anakin seemed uncharacteristically calm.

They walked across a bridge that crossed over a chasm filled with green smoke, there were large obsidian disks lining the bridge, mounted on large marble columns.

Towards the front of the room were three statues, a man with the wings of an angel, a woman with the wings of an eagle, and another man with the wings of a bat. In the middle of all of this, there was a man sitting in meditation, Anakin sat down in front of him.

Esinon did the same, she didn't trust whoever this was enough to close her eyes and meditate like Anakin was at the present moment. The hero with no fear was living up to his name. The man finally opened his eyes, gazing at Esinon curiously,

"Welcome my friends," he greeted,

"What is it you want from us?" Anakin asked,

"To learn the truth about who you really are," he replied, flicking his aqua eyes between the two of them. "One that maybe you knew all along," he rose to his feet, and strode towards them, "one you must believe in order to fulfill your destiny."

"Enough with the riddles old man," Anakin growled, his uneasy finally showing. "Tell me what's going on here." Thunder cracked outside making Esinon flinch as the man stared at her,

"As you can see, there is nowhere else to go," well, he wasn't wrong. "It is late, you both will be my guests tonight."

**A few hours later…**

Esinon rolled over for what felt like the umpteenth time, she pulled the blanket up under her chin. She was so cold, a shiver went up her spine as she flipped on her side, scrunched her eyes shut. BOOM! Another roll of thunder cracked, her eyes whipped open, someone was here.

"Wake up my little runner," she shot up out of bed, searching the room for the ghost of a Master.

"Qui-Gon?" she asked, she turned around to see Qui-Gon standing in the window. This was new… "How- how are you here? I'm not asleep,"

"There are many things that we don't yet understand about our bond," he started towards her, she backed away a little. '_What are you doing Esinon? He's your friend!' _she shouted internally to herself,

"Master… I-I don't understand," she said, letting him near her, he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"There is one thing you must understand, all of the decisions you have made have led you here."

"But where is here?"

"You are-" A red lightsaber blade was thrust through Qui-Gon's chest,

"Qui-Gon!" she cried, catching the falling Master, she heard an evil cackle, she looked upward to see a red zabrak, yellow eyes glinting in the lightning. A red double-bladed lightsaber illuminating his face in the darkness.

"You really thought you could save him?" he cackled, "You are now mine," she ignited her lightsaber backing away from the zabrak, wings began to sprout from his back, his eyes glowing red. He morphed into a giant terrifying creature and in a flash of lightning he was gone, she heard a knock at her door making her jump three feet in the air. The door opened and it was Anakin,

"Are you ok?" he asked,

"Yeah, yeah, nightmare… I think," she mumbled,

"Did you see someone you should have not seen? Someone who's dead?" he asked, she nodded, "I saw my mother," he muttered, his voice laced with pain. "Who'd you see?"

"My mom," she lied, it wasn't time for the galaxy to know about Qui-Gon yet.

"This must be some sort of trick of the Father, let's go find him," Anakin declared, grabbing his lightsaber from his belt and starting for the grand hall they had entered earlier. Esinon followed after him, they crept towards the meditating father lightsabers ablaze. Esinon tip-toed forward further, the tip of her azure blade inches from the old man's face

"Cannot sleep?" he asked, "To strike an unarmed man is hardly the Jedi way,"

"You're a Sith Lord," she growled,

"You have a very simple view of the universe," he said, "I am neither Sith or Jedi. I am much more, and so are both of you," Esinon tightened her grip on her lightsaber, what could this man know about her.

"I see through your visions and spells old man." Anakin growled, "Tell me what's going on here!" He pushed his lightsaber closer to the man's heart, the Father grabbed the tip of Anakin's blade and Esinon's jaw dropped. His hand should be gone,

"Some call us force wielders," he said, rising to his feet, he waved his hand, he sent their blades back into their hilts.

"The Jedi have never mentioned something like this," Anakin said, just as surprised as she was.

"Hmm, still few know of our existence." The Father glanced down the kyber crystal hanging around Esinon's neck. Anakin pointed at their rooms,

"In that room, my mother came to me. But it was not her, it was something else."

"Ah, my son I suspect." he said, stroking his long beard, "We can take many forms. The shapes we embody are merely a reflection of the life force around us." He glanced down at the both of them, "You both carry a great sadness in your hearts. My children and I can manipulate the Force like no other. Therefore it was necessary to withdraw from the temporal world and live here as anchorites."

"As a sanctuary?" Esinon asked, stepping towards the father, Anakin grabbed her shoulder, pushing her behind him.

"And a prison," the father replied, "You cannot imagine what pain it is to have such love for your children and realize they could tear the very fabric of our universe."

"I don't understand,"

"It is only here I can control them," he explained, "A family in balance, the light and the dark, day with night, destruction replaced by creation."

"Then why reveal yourselves to us?" Esinon asked,

"There are some who wish to exploit our power. The Sith are but one. Too much dark or light would be the undoing of life as you understand it." The father turned and looked at Anakin, "When news reached me that the Chosen One had been found, I needed to see for myself." Esinon had heard about the prophecy of the chosen one, a boy, born of no father who would restore balance to the force. There had been whispers it was Anakin, she had Qui-Gon talk about it many times, he believed the prophecies were true.

"The chosen one is a myth," Anakin snapped,

"Is it?" The Father smirked, cocking his head slightly, "I should very much like to know. Why don't we find out together? Pass one test, and I will discover the truth. Then you and your friends may leave." Anakin glanced at Esinon,

"I accept your terms,"

"The test will begin at dawn," he replied, Anakin started for his room, Esinon continued to stare at the Father. "Do you have something more you'd like to say?" She shook her head slowly, but her heart said yes,

"Esinon, are you coming?" Anakin asked,

"You my child, something tells me you're a person with more questions than answers." he said, she nodded slowly, "Come with me,"

"Esinon," Anakin said, making a motion for her to come here,

"I'll be alright Master Skywalker," she said, following after the father. The Hero with no fear hesitated for a moment before retreating back into his room. Esinon quickened her pace to follow after the extremely tall father.

"What questions do you have?" he asked, folding his bony hands behind his back.

"I- who or… what are you?" she asked tentatively,

"I thought your friend would have told you by now," He replied, Esinon cocked her eyebrow,

"Who… is my friend?"

"You do wear his kyber crystal around your neck, do you not?" he asked, motioning to her necklace. She clasped it protectively,

"But who are you?"

"As I said, some call us force wielders, others… call us gods," he replied, Esinon stopped in her tracks, prompting the father to turn to her.

"Gods?" she whispered, "But… why us? Why do you want Anakin?"

"I believe him to be the chosen one, what about you?"

"Do I believe… Qui-Gon tells me I should, but… the prophecy makes my Master nervous. It seems to make the council nervous as well, I- I don't know what to think."

"You carry great conflict with you," The Father replied,

"About the chosen one?"

"About your place in the galaxy as a Jedi," he said, beginning to walk again, Esinon quickened her pace.

"I'm not conflicted about being a Jedi," she argued,

"Really?" he asked skeptically, she nodded fiercely, "Because there is a wildness to you young one, darkness that lies far beneath."

"There is no darkness! I'm committed to the light, I've made my choice. If you're calling me Sith Lord then you are sorely mistaken." she snapped, folding her arms over her chest.

"I never said you were a Sith Lord if you were one I wouldn't have brought you here." he replied, she grumbled in annoyance, "I am simply stating that you carry great weights on your soul,"

"It's not darkness," she muttered, scrunching her fists a couple of times, the father hummed thoughtfully to himself as they walked, Esinon noticed the sun starting to peek itself over the horizon. The father noticed as well,

"Come, let's go retrieve your friend," he said, Esinon followed skeptically, if the father really thought that Anakin was the chosen one, this was gonna be some test.

**A few minutes later…**

They were in an arena of some sort, Esinon shifted her feet uncomfortably as her heart began to pound in her throat. Something big was about to happen and the force was urging her to run or pull out her lightsaber and stab the father right now. Instead, she clasped her crystal tightly, praying to Qui-Gon to be with her.

"It is time to face your guilt and find the truth," The Father said, there was a loud and terrible roaring that sounded overhead. A griffin and an enormous bat-like creature- like the one from her room last night. It was the daughter and the son, they were carrying something… Obi-Wan and Ahsoka! The two children settled onto the ground, the son holding Ahsoka, and the daughter holding onto Obi-Wan. Both children screeched at one another, Ahsoka was frantically trying to wrench herself free.

"Whatever he wants, don't do it, Master!" she shouted, Esinon tried to run to Obi-Wan but, Anakin grabbed her hand and shook his head,

"Let them go," he growled, "I will not play your games!"

"That's not what you said last night," The Father mused, "Besides, I think you will. I have ordered my children to kill your friends." The Father grabbed onto her shoulder and she was teleported onto a balcony, she felt a knife prod into her back.

"What are you doing?" she asked panickedly,

"Bringing out his true potential," he murmured,

"You can't!" she pleaded, but he ignored her, "I didn't get to apologize," she whispered, she didn't want the last thing she did with Obi-Wan was argue.

"The question is, who will you save? Your Master, or your apprentice? You must release the guilt and free yourself by choosing!" The Father commanded, Anakin looked to Esinon for help. She was too shocked to move, she couldn't lose her Master, but she couldn't live with herself if Ahsoka died.

"No!" Anakin shouted, his fists scrunching into tight balls.

"Their powers are too strong for us!" Obi-Wan shouted, his voice strained as he attempted to struggle against the daughter. "Save Ahsoka!" he cried, Ahsoka yelped in pain as the son tightened his grip on her arm.

"Let them go," Anakin growled,

"Only you can make my children release them," Esinon's breathing quickened as Qui-Gon's crystal began to thrum again,

"_The planet is the force," _Qui-Gon whispered,

"Anakin!" Esinon shouted, prompting the father to prod her a little more sharply with the knife. She arched her back away from him, "The planet is the force! Use it!" Anakin drew his hands close to his chest, his tabards beginning to float.

"You will let them go," he commanded, he thrust his arms out sending a powerful wave towards the daughter and the son, strong enough to shake both of their holds on Obi-Wan and Ahsoka.

He lifted his hands up raising the two creatures, the sky began to rumble as the sun disappeared turning to night, the arena glowed and the force raged. Her kyber crystal floated away from her chest, straining against her neck, glowing brightly.

Lightning cracked and thunder pounded, Anakin lowered his hands bringing Obi-Wan and Ahsoka safely to the ground. Esinon finally pulled away from the father, leaping over the edge to meet with her friends.

Anakin pulled the two creatures towards him for a moment before thrusting them into the wall. She met up with Ahsoka and Obi-Wan, they all drew their sabers.

Both of the creatures started flying towards them, just as they were about to attack, Anakin grabbed ahold of them both with the force,

"Down!" he snarled, throwing them both. As the children struggled to their feet, Anakin grabbed them with the force making them writhe in pain as they struggled against him, "I said on your knees!" Both the son and daughter fought against Anakin's control, their legs wavering as they tried to stay up on their feet.

Eventually, they couldn't hold out any more and both children turned back into their original bodies, both bowing before Anakin, out of breath. The sky reversed itself, transforming back into day and the raging hurricane in the force subsided along with the glowing of her crystal.

"And now you see who you truly are." The Father said if Esinon didn't believe that Anakin was the chosen one before, but now… it seemed likely. "Only the chosen one could tame both my children." Anakin panted heavily as the rest of them joined him,

"I've taken your test, now honor your half of the deal and let us go," he said,

"Ah, but first you must understand the truth. Now all of you, leave us." The Father commanded,

"Do not trust him," Ahsoka said,

"Ya think?" he replied,

"I said leave us," and with that, the three of them left the father and Anakin alone. They were led by the daughter to their ship, Ahsoka quickly climbed onto the ship.

"Esinon," Obi-Wan began,

"Master, I'm so sorry for everything I said in the library," she said quickly,

"It's alright Esinon, I'm sorry you got dragged here instead of being with your family," Obi-Wan said, placing a hand on her shoulder, he paused, "Did the father want anything with you?"

"No," she lied, "He was only interested in Master Skywalker." A few minutes later Anakin arrived at the ship, staring back at the arena for a moment.

"You ready to get out of here?" Obi-Wan asked his former padawan, Anakin nodded slowly, giving one last look before climbing onto the ship.

"Alright, who wants to fly?" Esinon asked, heading into the cockpit,

"I think both you and Anakin need some sleep, Ahsoka can help me fly if you like," Obi-Wan said,

"Of course Master Kenobi," Ahsoka said,

"Are you sure?" Esinon said,

"Sure I am," she said, punching Esinon's shoulder playfully, "The way you look, you look like you could use some sleep." She rolled her eyes before ducking into the small quarters with Anakin. Of course, Anakin was already passed out asleep, that man lived on caf and prayers alone. She climbed up onto the top bunk and tugged the blankets around herself, falling into a deep sleep.

* * *

**Well boys here we go, the beginning of Mortis.**

**I made a Windcaster playlist on Spotify, my username is the same as on this site. So if you want to know what I bop out to while listening to writing this story to get myself in the right mindset, go check that out! **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: Esinon can sing any rap song no matter how fast because she just goes into 'Speedy time' and it sounds slow to her but comes out fast to everyone else**

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! Love you all and thank you for the continued support. **


	24. Altar of Mortis and Ghosts of Mortis

Esinon groaned softly as she rolled over, this didn't feel like her bed. She clasped a fistful of grass gently as she opened her eyes. She was in a forest of some sort, the trees looked like the same ones on... Mortis? How did she know that? She sat up slowly,

"Are you happy child?" a soft voice whispered, she jumped to her feet searching for the origin of the voice. The creek she had been sleeping by had mist covering the water, she could see a large figure looming. She tentatively stepped towards the figure, he emerged from the mist, it was the zabrak from last night. She drew her lightsaber, ready to kill. "Calm yourself, I'm not here to fight you."

"You killed my friend last night," she growled,

"Did I? He was already dead in the first place," He did have a point, "But are you happy?"

"Happy about what?" she asked, refusing to lower her saber, he shot her a look,

"With the Jedi?"

"Of course I am," she snapped, but she knew deep down, part of her was lying. The Zabrak smirked,

"I'm sure you are," Esinon held her lightsaber out to his heart,

"What do you want?" she snarled,

"To offer you another option. The Jedi are forcing you to push away who you truly are, whether you know that or not." he said, "I can show you your true potential, become my apprentice and together-'' he morphed right in front of her eyes into the son. She should have known this was a trick, "we can change the very balance of this universe." She stepped away from the son,

"I would never join the dark side willingly," she snapped, the son chuckled,

"How simple you make it, light and dark as if one can exist without the other. Balance eludes you, I can help you find it if you wish."

"And you would do this by me becoming a Sith, never." she snarled, turning on her heel and walking away. She felt anger knock into her as the son burst into flames,

"We will destroy the Sith!" he screamed, "And the Jedi! It isn't about them! This is about you! YOU MUST FACE YOUR DESTINY!" he morphed into his batlike creature in the flames, screeching at her. He charged her and she held her hands up in defense,

* * *

Esinon shot up out of bed, nearly hitting her head on the ceiling. She blinked a couple of times, she was still on their ship. She was alright, she let out a sigh of relief, placing her head in her hands for a minute. She was really sick of having all of these insane nightmares. She jumped off her bunk, careful not to wake Anakin. She started for the cockpit but promptly ran into Ahsoka,

"Sorry," Esinon mumbled, still rattled from her dream.

"You ok?" she asked, noticing the crease in Esinon's forehead.

"Yeah, bad dream, I'm fine though," they were both torn from their trains of thought when Anakin shot out of his bed, panting,

"Master are you alright?" Ahsoka asked, he nodded, "Were you having a nightmare?"

"Something like that," he replied, rubbing his eyes, they were all jostled as the ship jolted.

"If you're done napping I could use some help up here!" Obi-Wan called,

"I'm coming," Anakin grumbled, Esinon gasped as a hand squeezed around her neck, she felt so cold, and she could hear Ahsoka having the same reaction next to her. She clawed desperately at the cold hands of the son,

"Leaving so soon?" he cooed, "Not without these, you won't." The catwalk of the ship opened and the son dropped out, clasping both Esinon and Ahsoka.

"Ahsoka! Esinon!" Anakin screamed, the son transformed into his bat creature and took both of them flying through a raging thunderstorm. Esinon could still hear the roar of the ship behind them, as they dove into a canyon dodging large rock towers. The son was desperately trying to lose Anakin as they bobbed and weaved through the rock formations, the son spun, making Esinon's stomach flip. The son flapped his wings sending them forward at incredible speed into the fog that she couldn't even see through. She couldn't even see Ahsoka who was hanging right next to her, they passed by a large throbbing green orb, the force raged with the dark side, she scrunched her eyes trying to fight off the cold and pain. She eventually lost the battle and passed out.

**A few minutes later… **

Esinon groaned at the pounding in her head, as another cold shiver ran up her spine.

"Finally awake," the son murmured, Esinon grumbled something under her breath as she blinked her eyes a couple of times. The son was leaning up against a wall, she tried to move but realized she was restrained.

"Why take me? I'm not Master Skywalker's padawan," she replied, standing a little taller in her restraints. The son lazily cocked his head, studying the padawan before him, he didn't answer her question. "What do you want from me? What could you possibly hope to gain?"

"It's not about what I can gain from you," he began, starting to circle her, "It's what you can get from me." She simply glared at him,

"Why did you come to me in a dream?" she asked,

"Because balance eludes you, and the darkness is ever building. If you don't learn to control it, it will overtake you."

"Like it has you?" she asked, staring at him, "Don't think I haven't sensed the darkness, but there is conflict, it isn't too late for you." The Son chuckled,

"The conflict you sense, it isn't me. Look inside yourself, there is war raging," he took a deep breath like he could smell whatever he could sense. "I can feel it." Esinon flinched slightly, this was the second of the 'gods' that had told her they could sense conflict in her. She didn't want to believe it… but the Father had proved Anakin was the chosen one. To be perfectly honest, she was terrified, terrified about what all of this meant.

"I don't know what you're feeling, but it isn't conflict. I've chosen the light. I am a Jedi." she said firmly, the son cocked an eyebrow,

"Really? Because you seem to trust the force and it's will more than the members of your own order." Esinon didn't argue, because she knew it was true. The son stepped closer to her until he was inches away from her face, he then pressed a button, releasing her restraints, she jumped away from him, it made her head spin. "Alone again, it seems you always do end up alone."

"You don't know anything about me," She snarled, as they started to circle one another,

"I do in fact, everyone leaves you alone, whether you accept that or not. You will always be abandoned." he snarled, his fingers morphing into large claws. He slashed across her arm,

"Ah!" she cried, clasping the injured appendage to her chest. The fiery pain began to spread through her body. _You will always be left all alone. _She collapsed onto the ground, the son peering over her as the world went black.

* * *

The son watched Esinon's body flinch a few times as her veins turned black, and her skinned paled. His lips curved up into a demonic smile, as the padawan rose to her feet, eyes glistening bright yellow, deep red blood trickling down her arm onto the floor.

"It's time,"

**A few minutes later…**

"Anakin… always on the move." Obi-Wan muttered, running a hand over his beard. His mind flicked back to Esinon, it was like Anakin had forgotten that it wasn't only Ahsoka who had been taken. He needed to get to the father, the father could help him get his padawan. He wouldn't leave Esinon behind. "But how do I even get to the Father?" he wondered aloud, a bright light flashed behind him, catching his attention. He whipped around, seeing the monastery that hovered over the arena from earlier. There, there is where he would find the father. Obi-Wan rushed towards the cliff, and began his climb, with one name pounding in his mind. Esinon, Esinon, Esinon, he soon reached the top of the monastery and sprinted towards the steps. A flash of red light and the Father came flying down the flight of stairs.

"I hate you!" The son screeched, he morphed and created a powerful blast with his wings before disappearing into the night sky.

"Father!" the daughter cried, running down the steps, Obi-Wan knelt down and placed a pair of fingers onto his neck.

"He's alive," the daughter pulled her Father's head into her lap,

"Father," she whispered, pressing their foreheads together. Obi-Wan's head was drawn upward as a soft chuckle hit his ears. There was a dark figure at the top of the steps,

"Esinon," he whispered,

"Come back for me have you, Master?" She asked, her voice wasn't right, it was high pitched and teasing. That wasn't his padawan, whatever it was may have looked like her and talked like her, but that wasn't Esinon, "No?" she cooed, cocking her head, folding her hands in front of her. Bright yellow eyes flickered as lightning cracked. "He was right. Right about everything."

"Esinon…"

"Everyone always leaves Esinon alone," she growled, beginning to pace the top of the steps.

"What's wrong with you?" he murmured, starting towards his padawan.

"Always with the criticism, Master." she snapped, walking down a couple steps and jabbing her hands at her chest. "Never really believing in me, trusting me. You never wanted me to begin with!"

"Esinon I-"

"I know that you didn't ask for me. I was thrust down upon you. No one ever wanted me." she hissed, "Well, I don't need you anymore." She turned her back to him,

"Esinon. Esinon, listen to me, something is wrong with you. This isn't you!" he begged,

"Isn't it?" she snapped, "Can you sense it? Sense what they sense… the conflict?" she whispered, creeping down the stairs towards him. Obi-Wan had always sensed conflict in Esinon, but there was conflict in all padawans. "Afraid? You should be. He asked me to give you a message, either convince Anakin to join him or he'll kill me." She cackled,

"No, I won't let him," he replied, stepping towards his padawan,

"Then you will be forced to kill me." she snarled, she called her lightsaber into her hand, the blue blade igniting slowly. He shook his head, as a satanic grin spread across his padawan's face. She leaped into the air, saber over her head, he drew his saber quick enough to block his padawan.

"Get him inside," Obi-Wan ordered, the daughter nodded, taking her father inside as Obi-Wan shoved his padawan away. She advanced on him taking harsh swings, each coming inches from his body. She really was trying to kill him. "Esinon, I won't fight you." She flipped, kicking him in the face, sending him to the ground, she did a couple of back handsprings landing in a crouch. She stood back up as Obi-Wan struggled to get back up, staring at his saber that was a few feet away.

"And now the student will kill the Master," she snarled, igniting her blade again, she ran towards him as he called his blade to his hand, blocking her savage attack.

"Getting a little ahead of yourself aren't you padawan mine."

"Stop calling me that! I HATE IT WHEN YOU CALL ME THAT!" she snarled, Obi-Wan kicked her in the stomach, she slashed her saber, colliding with his. One, two, three, and sparks flew, he spun their blades around each other, throwing her saber up in the air. He used the force to throw it into the monastery. He threw his saber inside as well, she screeched in rage, trying to lunge for his neck. He grabbed her fists,

"Esinon, please, listen to me," he begged, she scrunched her eyes, shaking her head, trying to fight off pain. "I know you're in there, come back to me."

"No," she grunted, her eyes flickering back and forth from brown to yellow. "No, you don't care about me, you'll leave, they always leave, always, always, always,"

"Esinon, I'm not going to leave. I know that you're afraid that I will abandon you, and I can't promise to be around forever, but I promise to stay by your side as long as I can." She stared in his eyes, her face softening, eyes continue to flicker, "Come back to me padawan mine,"

"Master?" she whispered, her eyes turning back to brown, passing out in his arms.

"Don't worry, I've got you," he whispered, her whole body was still covered in black veins, but they were starting to slowly retract. She had beat the darkness, he picked her up and carried her up into the monastery. Esinon groaned, instinctively wrapping her arms around his neck. "It's alright," the Father was laying in between a pair of statues, the daughter waving her hands over his body. "How is he? I need to talk to him,"

"Not until he's stronger," the daughter snapped,

"Please, your brother hurt my padawan, he's losing himself to the dark side. He also captured our friend."

"Master?" she whispered, her hands tightening their grip on his robes.

"Shh," he whispered,

"Then he must have his reasons," the daughter replied,

"The same reason he had for attempting to murder your father?" Obi-Wan asked, the daughter flinched,

"He would never do such a thing,"

"I saw him,"

"It is not his fault, my nature is to do what is selfless, his will always be to do what is selfish."

"Then you must help us," Obi-Wan begged, Esinon tapped his shoulder, motioning for him to set her down.

"I cannot interfere with the ways of the force. My father forbids it," she said, rising to her feet.

"Please, he did the same thing to me that he did Ahsoka, he's gonna kill her. I can't lose her," Esinon pleaded, the daughter sighed.

"Because he corrupted you… you can wield the dagger." she said, "Come with me," The Master and Padawan pair followed after the daughter as they walked down a set of stairs, deeper and deeper into the monastery. They finally reached a cliff in front of a set of rocks that led to an altar. "I can go no further, your padawan must go and retrieve the blade."

"Why me?" Esinon whispered, terror, filling her eyes. The daughter placed a hand on Esinon's shoulder, and she instantly felt warmer.

"You carry great darkness with you, but that isn't a bad thing," she said, getting eye-level with Esinon. "You are stronger than that, you can beat it, you just did. You are strong and brave. Confronting fear is the destiny of the Jedi." A few tears trickled down Esinon's face, the daughter gently brushed them away, "You can do this," She nodded, determination replacing the fear.

Esinon leaped onto the next rock, jumping until she reached the altar. Green flames illuminated the darkness, the hilt sat spinning slowly in front of her. Esinon reached her hand out through the flames, they licked at her hand and arm but didn't hurt her. She grabbed the hilt, power surging through her body, she pulled it out, and as soon as she did a blade formed in her palm.

She looked back up at her Master in astonishment to make sure he had just seen what had happened. He nodded in equal astoundment, Esinon jumped back up to join them.

**A few minutes later…**

"Sister," the son greeted, his back turned to them as they neared him. "What a pleasant surprise. And you brought a friend. Esinon! I see you broke out of the stupor I put you in, but you might want to look at your arm." Esinon glanced down at her arm, the slash marks still oozing blood… she had forgotten about that wound.

"I'll be fine," she growled, resisting the urge to hover her hand over the dagger hilt on her belt.

"Mmm," the son responded,

"What have you done brother?" The daughter snapped,

"Done? I have done what is right… or what is wrong, depending on your point of view." The son sat down on his Father's throne,

"Our father is dying, did you do it?"

"He is just so selfish," the son said, steepling his fingers, "And he was just taking too long to die… so I decided to move things along. Now, why are you here?"

"I won't let you leave this planet." The daughter said firmly,

"You are not strong enough to keep me here," he replied, rising from the throne. Esinon had had enough, she was done letting the darkness control her.

"Not alone she isn't," Esinon snapped, stepping towards the son.

"Are you referring to your friend, the Chosen One?" he asked, stepping towards the window. "You might want to check up on him, he's a little bit preoccupied at the moment."

"Soka," Esinon whispered, dashing to the window and peering out, and sure enough, a corrupted Ahsoka, with the same hunger for her Master's death as she had once been. "We have to get down there, now," Obi-Wan drew his saber, slashing the window twice and using the force to shatter it. They both leaped out, landing in a roll on the ground and leaping to their feet, sprinting towards Anakin. Ahsoka jumped into the air, flipping up onto a platform, catching her lightsaber in her outstretched hand. She whipped around, igniting both blades,

"Three Jedi, finally, a challenge." she snarled, she leaped down smashing her lightsabers against Anakin and Obi-Wan's, kicking Esinon in the stomach. Esinon quickly leapt to her feet, tackling Ahsoka around the waist and bringing the Togruta to the ground. Both of Ahsoka's lightsabers flew out of her hands, Esinon grappled with her friend. Her best friend, Ahsoka decided to play dirty, sinking her nails into Esinon's wounded arm. She howled in pain, as Ahsoka kicked both her feet into Esinon's chest throwing her halfway across the courtyard,

"Esinon!" Obi-Wan cried,

"I'm fine, get Ahsoka!" she shouted, clutching her wounded arm to her chest. Anakin finally managed to gain some ground on Ahsoka, shoving the corrupted padawan back.

"Any suggestions?" he asked, Esinon used her speed to rush over to them, drawing the blade from the altar.

"We cut her free," she replied, aiming the dagger towards a corrupted Ahsoka.

"What is that?" Anakin asked, shocked,

"It can kill the son," she replied, lowering the blade slightly,

"Where do you get that?" Ahsoka snarled, eyes fixed on the dagger, "Give it to me!" The son's voice erupted from her mouth as she lunged towards Esinon, Obi-Wan and Anakin leapt in front of her, protecting her from Ahsoka's barrage of attack. CRACK! Glass shattered above and the son and daughter came flying out in a rainstorm of glass. All four Jedi ducked out of the way, to avoid further injury, nevertheless, they were all thrown to their feet.

"So glad you could join our party father," the son said mockingly, a bright flash of red erupted in front of Esinon's eyes as lightning splayed from his fingertips.

"You will stop this," the Father commanded, his voice strained as he blocked the son's lightning. Esinon struggled to her feet, all the soreness of the battle starting to set in.

"You are too weak for me old man!" the son cackled, doubling his efforts. "You mean nothing to me anymore," Esinon glanced at Ahsoka to see her lips curling into a grin of sadistic pleasure. Esinon knew that darkness, she had just had to fight through it. The Father was losing this battle, his shield finally fell and the lightning hit his already weak body. Obi-Wan rushed to the daughter, helping her up as the son rose towards the father. Esinon clutched the dagger more tightly in her hand, she knew she didn't have the strength to defeat the son as he tormented his father with more pain, but Anakin did.

"Anakin, now!" she shouted, tossing the dagger towards the elder Jedi. Just as it was about to reach his hands, Ahsoka darted in, grabbing it from the air. She landed gracefully next to the son, peering over her shoulder and holding the dagger teasingly, letting Esinon know that she had failed.

"Everything has transpired exactly as I have planned," the son said, as Ahsoka stood in front of him.

"You showed them the altar?" the Father asked, weakly rising to his feet. The daughter hung heavily on Obi-Wan for support.

"I am sorry Father, I didn't know how else to stop him,"

"Give it to me child," the son commanded, Ahsoka peered around her shoulder,

"Ahsoka, no!" Anakin begged, reaching out a hand for his padawan, Ahsoka's hand curled around the dagger's hilt for a minute before handing it over to the son. He ran a finger down the edge of the blade,

"Thank you," he cooed, "Your usefulness has to come to an end," He pressed his fingers to the diamonds on Ahsoka's forehead, she instantly crumpled to the ground, her lightsaber rolled out of her limp hand.

"No!" Anakin screamed, Esinon crumpled to her knees feeling Ahsoka's force aura leave her body.

"No," Esinon whispered, her arms shaking, rage starting to burn through her body.

"The Jedi have brought me the dagger, and you have brought yourself," the son growled at his Father, Esinon leapt up to her feet.

"I'm going to kill you," she snarled, sprinting towards the son,

"Are you now," he murmured, he waved a finger, sending Esinon flying across the courtyard, crashing into the wall. She groaned, but she couldn't get up, the son was holding her in place on the ground. "Now Father, you will die." The son raised the dagger to stab his Father,

"Father!" the daughter cried, rushing away from Obi-Wan and catching the blade in her back, the light around her body dimming.

"Why!" The son screeched, the sky thundered and cracked. Esinon was released from the ground because in a large wingbeat he was gone. Esinon jumped up sprinting over to the still body of Ahsoka. Anakin was kneeling next to Ahsoka, the elder padawan's eye rolled up into her head. This was all her fault, if she hadn't tossed the dagger, this wouldn't have happened! She felt Obi-Wan rest his hand on her shoulder, sensing the hurricane that was her force aura.

"All is lost," the father murmured, Esinon finally snapped back to, as the trees began to disintegrate, Esinon could sense the darkness surging, "The balance is broken. I thought by bringing you here, I would…" The father began tearfully, clutching his daughter's flickering hand. "But I have destroyed everything,"

"Can you help her?" Anakin choked between tears,

"There is no light. The evil has been unleashed, and the dark side will consume her."

"You must help her!" Anakin shouted,

"I cannot undo what is done!" The Father shot back, tears trickling down his face. "There is no hope."

"Yes there is, there's always hope!" The Father sighed, his eyes closing. The Daughter reached up a flickering hand towards her father, and then weakly pointed at Ahsoka's still body. The Father gently stroked her cheek, before rising to his feet and motioning for Anakin to get in between them. Anakin obeyed, closing his eyes in meditation. The Father raised his hands, Anakin in sync with his movements.

"Then let my daughter's last act to be to breathe life into your friend." Anakin placed his fingers on the daughter's forehead and then onto Ahsoka's forehead. His eyes shone with bright light as both bodies on either side of him lifted into the air. The light pulsed, along with the thrumming of her crystal, it soon subsided as both bodies drifted back to the ground, and Anakin fell out of the meditative trance, his hands hitting the ground as he panted. Esinon stared hopefully at Ahsoka, she didn't move… it hadn't worked. She buried her head in her hands, her best friend was dead and it was all her fault. She heard a gasp, she looked up to see Ahsoka shooting upward, coughing and gasping for air. She was alive! Anakin immediately pulled her in a tight embrace,

"Hey Snips," he said, with a strained chuckled,

"What happened?" she murmured, returning his hug, looking around confusedly, cocking a concerned eyebrow at Esinon's tear stricken face. She didn't remember anything…

"Um… nothing much, it's good to see you," he replied, Esinon grabbed Ahsoka's saber off the ground and handed it to her.

"As the balance in this world crumbles, so shall war escalate in your galaxy." The father knelt down next to his now unmoving daughter, "As my son has descended into the dark side, so have the Sith gained strength."

"We will stop your son," Esinon said confidently,

"No, you must leave, now!" The Father exclaimed, "He needs your ship to leave the planet. You must go before he can take it."

"What about you?" Obi-Wan asked,

"I will mourn all that I have done… and all that is yet to be," he said sorrowfully, and with that, they all turned and left.

**A few hours later…**

Esinon continued to type out more code as she struggled to get a transmission through. It was difficult because of the rain for one, but her computer kept glitching out because of this planet.

"Well, do you want the bad news, or the really bad news?" Ahsoka asked, popping out from the inside of the ship, Esinon joined them all in the main hallway.

"How about the bad news laced with a little optimism," Obi-Wan said,

"Well, we've got two busted shilo pins, a busted power converter, the engines should be fired twice to clear the debris, and the backup vents need charging," Ahsoka explained, heaving herself out of the ship's insides.

"Well that is terribly downbeat," Obi-Wan remarked, a hand going to his beard. "What about you Esinon, any luck getting a transmission through?"

"Not yet, the weather's not helping, and I think there's a latency issue with the frequency, there's a lot of atmospheric interference."

"Can the ship be fixed, Snips?" Anakin asked as Ahsoka jumped back down into the belly.

"Uh… I can reroute the primary initiator, weld the dampening vents and that might give us enough power to leave the atmosphere. After that, I have no guarantees she'll hold,"

"If Ahsoka gets us out of the atmosphere, it'll be easier for me to get a distress signal out," Esinon added,

"Well we'll take our chances, better than staying here," Obi-Wan replied, exiting the ship,

"E, can you hand me the socket plug," Ahsoka asked, holding up her hand out of the belly. She handed it to her as Anakin pushed a BARC out of the ship, where in the world was he going? After Ahsoka dying, and her being corrupted by the son, she just wanted to get off of this planet. Esinon subconsciously rubbed her newly bandaged arm, Cody was gonna have questions about that, but how was she supposed to explain it? Esinon headed back to the cockpit, tucking her laptop under her chin, how were they going to explain any of this? Her eyes drooped sleepily, as she struggled and lost the battle to sleep.

**A few hours later…**

"Esinon, Esinon," she jolted awake, to see it was only Master Kenobi,

"Oh, sorry," she muttered, already opening her laptop to continue working,

"Esinon, I… I have a question." her Master said, sitting down in the seat across from her, Esinon nodded, crossing her legs. "Did the son take you for another reason other than trying to get me to convince Anakin to help him." Esinon nodded,

"He visited me, in a vision right before I was taken," she explained, "He said I needed to accept my destiny… he said we could rule the galaxy together." She didn't realize it until Obi-Wan rested a hand on her shoulder that she was shaking. "Master you don't think that I could be a Sith… do you?" she asked quietly,

"I don't Esinon, everyone carries darkness inside of them. Even Master Yoda, just because you have the potential to be a Sith, doesn't mean you will become one. It's about not letting the darkness control you, you have to control the darkness. I know that your strong enough to do so, the embodiment of light told you." he said, smiling at her, "Besides, you're known as the sunshine child in the temple, I don't think you could become a Sith if you wanted," In a flash her arms were around his neck, hugging him tightly,

"Thank you, Master," she whispered,

"You're welcome padawan mine," he replied, hugging his padawan tightly. And to think he wasn't going to ever train another padawan, thank goodness Master Yoda assigned her to him. He definitely had a different relationship with Esinon than Anakin, and that was ok, the moment was promptly interrupted by a soft snore coming from the belly of the ship.

"I guess Soka isn't the only one who was sleepy," Esinon joked, pulling away from him.

"I'll go find some tea, keep working on trying to get a transmission through," he instructed, before leaving the cockpit, she nodded,

"Yes Master," she set back to work, still sensing a lingering bit of trouble coming from Obi-Wan, he was worried about Anakin, who had left a few hours earlier, and it didn't take a bond to know. She could hear Master Kenobi talking to Ahsoka,

"We need to change plans," he said, "You must focus on the firing drives. Disengage them."

"But I almost finished putting this junk heap back together," Ahsoka said, her voice bordering towards a whine.

"Just do as I say. Please," he said, grabbing the last BARC speeder, "We don't have much time," Ahsoka shrugged,

"Mmkay, you're the boss," she replied, disappearing back into the belly. Esinon hesitated, letting her Master go… something had gone wrong. She could sense the darkness growing,

"Come on," Esinon said, starting for the catwalk, Ahsoka heaved herself out of the underbelly following Esinon outside.

"Anakin has gone to confront your son, hasn't he?" Obi-Wan accused the Father,

"Deep within this planet exists a place where all that is dark channeled," The Father explained,

"How do I get there?" Obi-Wan asked, climbing onto his speeder,

"You cannot interfere." The Father said firmly,

"The way I see it if we were not supposed to interfere, Ahsoka, Esinon, and I wouldn't be here in the first place." The Negotiator shot back, "Stay here and watch the ship, I'm going to get Anakin." The two padawans nodded as their Master sped off.

**A few hours later…**

Esinon hadn't given up on trying to get a transmission through, but she was getting discouraged. Just as she was about to give up, the light flashed green,

"Finally!" she exclaimed, "This is Jedi shuttle 634, calling on all secure channels for help. Do you read? I repeat, we are stranded and need immediate evac. Come in please," No one responded, but her message was out there, to anyone who was listening. She walked out to where Ahsoka was putting the finishing touches on the ship, Esinon sat down, hanging her legs over the edge. "I managed to get a distress signal out, to anyone who was listening."

"First win of the day," Ahsoka muttered, Esinon was still feeling out of balance after watching Ahsoka die, and yet her best friend was standing right in front of her. "You ok E?" Ahsoka asked, patting her friend's knee as she passed.

"Yeah, just thinkin' that's all," she replied,

"About what?" Ahsoka wasn't one to stop probing about something, especially when she could sense something off with Esinon.

"Master Skywalker and Kenobi have been gone a while, with everything happening here, I can't help but worry."

"I'm sure everything will be-" Ahsoka spoke too soon because Esinon's comlink buzzed with the frantic voice of Master Kenobi.

"Esinon, Esinon can you hear me? Come in please! Esinon!"

"Yes Master, any success with Anakin?" she asked, Ahsoka joined her at the comlink, her force aura stirring slightly with anxiety.

"No, quite the opposite."

"Master… what are you saying?" Ahsoka asked slowly.

"Anakin has joined forces with the son." Both of their stomachs dropped, "Don't engage him!"

"But-" Ahsoka began,

"Just do as I say!" Master Kenobi sounded more stern and panicked than usual, Esinon could sense the force stirring with darkness. Her crystal shuddered, "Listen to me, you have to disable the ship."

"But I just finished putting it back together," Ahsoka said, gritting her teeth together, trying to hide how worried she was.

"Ahsoka please listen, we have to prevent Anakin and the Son from leaving," he said,

"We'll do it Master," Esinon said, squeezing Ahsoka's shoulder reassuringly. The roar of a speeder neared, making both of them perk up. "I'll grab the power cell, hide and we'll get off the ship." Esinon used her speed to grab the power cell and joined Ahsoka on the ceiling. Anakin stormed through the ship into the cockpit, as soon as he passed, the two padawans dropped and ran out to the parked BARC speeder. "I'll run," Esinon whispered, as they took off.

"So how exactly do we find this Darkside place?" Ahsoka shouted over the speed of the wind as Esinon kept pace with the speeder,

"Just go straight till we hit it? I dunno, just keep going until it feels cold!"

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon peered over the edge of the well that was full of lava at the bottom, she could see the form of Master Kenobi climbing up the side. Of course, he would try and take matters into his own hands,

"I see him," Esinon said, Ahsoka began to climb off the speeder, "Soka, what are you doing? You've gotta ride down to get him,"

"I thought you would want to," she replied, "He's your Master,"

"At this point, he's our Master, go get him I'll keep watch in case Anakin tried to trail us here. The son can be here in a couple of wing beats." The Togruta nodded before descending into the fiery mess, a few minutes later Ahsoka had risen to the surface with her Master in tow.

"Where do we start searching for Anakin?" Ahsoka asked,

"I'm not sure at this point," Obi-Wan said, Esinon grabbed her head as memories flashed through her mind, it was only bits and pieces but it was enough to give her a location.

"The arena, he's with the Father," Esinon said,

"How…" Obi-Wan began,

"I'll explain later, we've got to hurry. The son is closing fast," Esinon said, and in flash she was gone.

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon skidded to a halt, with Ahsoka and Obi-Wan entering the arena where Anakin and the Father were standing.

"Master!" Ahsoka shouted, jumping off the speeder and running to him,

"Are you alright?" Obi-Wan asked, walking tentatively towards his former apprentice, this time it was Esinon's turn to soothe the qualm of anxiety that swirled around her Master. She placed a hand on his shoulder as Anakin stood up,

"I think so," he said, "But we must stop the son once and for all," Maybe Anakin had been forced to join with the son, been corrupted as she had because she knew that Anakin would never join the dark side willingly.

"We will have little time, and you'll only have one chance," The Father said, "You know what you must do,"

"How quaint," the son cooed, he descended gracefully into the arena, "My own personal send-off,"

"I ask you one last time," The Father said, the son's red eyes flickered, "Do not leave my son,"

"You have no power to keep me here old man," The son snapped, "You must understand by now, this planet is not my destiny."

"What will you do is destroy all that is good." The Father said, "I beg, restrain yourself and stay."

"I cannot," The son said, turning his head from his father,

"And this it shall be," he replied sorrowfully, "I love you, my son."

"Do you?" the Son asked, Anakin ignited his lightsaber, he struck a couple blows, but the son blocked with his arms. The son lunged, locking his hand around Anakin's neck and throwing him across the arena. The three remaining Jedi ignited their blades, in an instant the son had wrenched their blades from their grasps. All three of them tried to lunge at him, but with one flick of his hand, they were on the ground halfway across the arena. Esinon groaned, as she attempted to push herself to her feet, but she was too sore to. All she could do was lay there as blurred voices floated into her ears, Esinon gasped as she felt the force surged, life passing on. The Father and Son were both dead,

"Esinon, Esinon!" Ahsoka shouted, shaking her, "Wake up!"

"I'm awake Soka, calm down," Esinon groaned, as she forced herself into a sitting position. The seventeen-year-old togruta hoisted Esinon to her feet, as the three went to join Anakin. The world around them began to crumble, the crystal at the top of the monastery fell and shattered into a billion pieces casting a white light over the entire planet. Esinon raised her arm to shield her eyes, wondering if this was it, and-

* * *

"General Skywalker come in," the voice of Rex said, Esinon groaned, blinking her eyes open, they were back in the ship.

"We read you Rex. Can you hear me?" Anakin asked, Esinon glanced at Ahsoka who shrugged, she was just as baffled.

"Yes sir, we read you and are standing by. We were worried, you were off the scopes there for a moment." Only a moment? They were gone for two days at least.

"A moment?" Anakin chuckled, "We've been gone longer than a moment, Rex."

"Sir, I don't understand. You'll have to explain," Rex said, all four of them glanced at each other,

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Anakin said, Rex shrugged, probably used to the Jedi antics by now, "We're coming in now."

**A few days later…**

All four of them had agreed not to speak of what they saw on Mortis, but Esinon still wanted answers. She had been scouring the library for any record of Mortis.

The Father had mentioned that Qui-Gon knew about these force beings, but she had been struggling to get in contact with him. He seemed to work on his own timetable, Esinon scanned a few shelves, pulling out a few more data cards.

She sat down at a console and inserted the card, using her speed to read the hundred-page long document in seconds. She blinked a couple of times making sure she was retaining all of the information, Madame Nu passed by her smiling softly, she had been in the library all day.

Information about force users was scarce, but it looked like these people had been around since before the Jedi-Mando war. And it seemed like the Father had contained his children shortly after that war ended, the son probably thrived off of the darkness, but never acted on it because he couldn't leave the planet without a ship. She could feel her eyes drooping as her head dropped down to the desk.

* * *

Esinon jolted awake, surveying her surroundings. She was in the forest, on Mandalore she suspected. Somewhere outside Sundari, she got to her feet and set off to find Qui-Gon. Since realizing their bond, the memories and dreams had been easier to control, and reach. She'd even gotten to the point that sometimes she stretched out beyond the memory, so she had to go find Qui-Gon. After a few minutes of walking through droopy trees she found a campsite, where Qui-Gon was busying himself with a card game. That's often how she found him, doing something else so the teenagers could sleep. She joined him on the log,

"Ok so I have some questions," Qui-Gon hummed thoughtfully laying another card in a pile,

"You've had quite the adventure," he said,

"Indeed I have, and I think you'll have some answers." She said, sitting up a little taller, as the firelight flicker,

"And what makes you think that?" he asked,

"Because the Father said you knew about their existence,"

"Yes, I did. I have notes on them somewhere, Obi-Wan probably has them. He's always been sentimental like that," Qui-Gon said, offering her a card for him to help her. She laid it down in the appropriate pile, and he handed half the deck to sort.

"How do I get them? He doesn't know about you,"

"I did plenty of research on the living force while I was alive, tell Obi-Wan it's for a project in class and he'll hand them over. He trusts you more than he does most,"

"There are two problems with that, we promised not to lie to each other, and he never talks about you. If I ask for your notes about the living force when he's never brought up that you've studied it."

"Then find some way to get him to bring the topic up if you seem interested enough he'll show you,"

"I feel bad being manipulative," she muttered, resting her elbows on her knees, her attention discarded from the cards in her hand. Qui-Gon sighed, "Why doesn't he talk about you? When he does, it's fondly, he loves you a lot."

"When I died, Obi-Wan was still a padawan. He was trapped on the other side of a ray-shield and watched helplessly as I was stabbed. I… died in his arms, it's an unpleasant memory, and he still blames himself for my death. I'm pretty sure that's the reason he doesn't want to talk about me." Esinon's stomach dropped, so that's why he didn't want to bring it up. Obi-Wan knew not to probe about her traumatic memories unless it was really necessary. Such as after Sarrish nightmares, she didn't want to indirectly hurt him because she needed answers.

"Master, I…"

"I know, but he has to talk about it sometime. The Jedi Order messed far too much with his ability to grieve any of this properly," he said, patting her hands, prompting her to continue helping him with his game. She obliged,

"Master… do you not trust the order?" she asked tentatively, Qui-Gon paused for a moment,

"I don't know if I would say I don't trust them. I just don't agree with some of their methods, and rules. Do you know how long the order has been around?"

"Almost as long as the galaxy," she replied,

"And we've had the same code for almost as long as the order has existed. Times are changing, and the Jedi are refusing to change with them. The Jedi have become detached, and political, forgetting that at the core of our beliefs is love."

"But what about attachments Master?" she asked,

"Attachment isn't love. You love Fives and Echo, correct?" she nodded, "But you do not try to possess them, you let them go about their duties as ARC troopers, and have other friends. You appreciate their companionship but are prepared to let them go, you have more practice because they aren't always looking with the 501st. If you tried to keep them around you all the time, not let them have other friends and tried to prevent them from going on missions that you deemed dangerous, that wouldn't be love. That would be attachment, love is willing the good of another person. And as a Jedi you must be ready to let people go, people come and go and that is simply a fact of life. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah… but why does the council teach it differently?" she asked, finishing their game. Qui-Gon scooped up the cards shuffling them to play again.

"And that, my little runner, is why I wasn't on the council while I was alive. Let's just say the council and I had very different views," he said, starting a few new piles of cards.

"Master Kenobi said you were a maverick," she mumbled, stealing half the cards to help him.

"That's one word for it," he replied, moving a card to a different pile she had just put down.

"Why did they let you stay? I've heard them exiling people like you," she said, she shuddered slightly at the thought of the Jedi abandoning one of their own for differing views. Jedi left with nothing, and nowhere to go. Qui-Gon sensed the young padawan's anxiety and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I may have differing views, but that doesn't mean that I'm wrong and I think you know that. The order is not going to kick you out because you believe something slightly different than you. You are strong and wise, much wiser than I." he said, she nodded slowly,

"The things that the Father and the son said, they scare me… to be honest. I… the darkness, it's there. I can feel it," she whispered, scrunching her fists a couple times. "I'm scared that it'll come out, and will be something I can't come back from." Her face heated up as she could feel a couple tears making their way down her face. She wasn't supposed to be crying, she was a Jedi. Jedi don't cry. Yet she had, she cried so many times over Foxtrot, over every trooper she couldn't save, over Knox, and her mother. She was supposed to be stronger, Master Kenobi didn't cry, Anakin didn't cry, even Ahsoka, didn't cry. She felt Qui-Gon wrap an arm around her,

"Little runner," he whispered, "I know that you are scared, and a lot of new things are happening, and things are changing, but you must remember that you are stronger than the darkness. The way you love gives you strength because you fight for something. Most Jedi don't fight for anything at all, they fight because they are told to. So keep loving my little runner, it makes you stronger,"

* * *

**And Mortis comes to a close**

**This was originally two chapters, but I finished school and have more time. I finally got it together, we're all gonna be ok.**

**Next up on let's make that canon corner: all of the clones are extremely artistically talented (this is basically canon) I mean have you seen their armor,, and if they don't get paid, then they have to do each other's tattoos and haircuts. Plus the art on their gunships? The clones beat me at art. Gosh darn it. **

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! Love you all! **


	25. Heroes on Both Sides

**A few weeks later…**

The first time it happened, she had been alone. Thank goodness, she didn't know how to explain it. It was on the battlefield, a bomb went off a little too close to Cody for her liking. She had managed to use the force to shove him away, but when she called out after the explosion had gone off, he didn't answer. She panicked, and electricity crackled around her fingers, she didn't understand why, or how it happened.

The second time it happened, she'd just woken up from a nightmare, electricity emanating from her fingers, filling her room with light. At first, she had panicked which only charged her fingers even further. Eventually, with a few deep breaths, the crackling subsided. She kept having strange dreams about that zabrak from Mortis. She assumed it was only a remnant of the son having control of her mind, so often dismissed them as merely bad dreams.

After a few more times of it happening, she learned what triggered it, and how to control it.

It happened whenever she got scared, panicked, or angry if she kept control of her emotions, it stayed under control. She wasn't planning on telling anyone, because she had it under control. Plus with all her responsibilities as a Commander, a padawan, and taking care of her sister, she didn't have time to talk about it with anyone anyways.

**One day later…**

With a final kick to the head, Esinon had dismantled the last droid. She held her ready stance until Fives signaled it was alright for her to relinquish, she settled into a relaxed position, her whole body threatening to tremble with exhaustion.

"Congratulations Taz! You are an unofficial ARC trooper!" Fives shouted, scooping her up onto his shoulders. She smiled tiredly, she had passed, actually passed the ARC exam. This training sucked, but she was better Jedi because of it, plus it had been a good reason to see Echo and Fives all of the time.

"We need to find a way to celebrate," Echo said,

"How?" she asked tiredly, resting her chin on Fives's head, Fives raised his finger to give a suggestion,

"No Fives we are not taking her to 79s."

"You'd be wise not too," Cody said, entering the training room, both Echo and Fives stood up a little taller for the Captain. Esinon merely waving a couple of fingers,

"Hey, Codes," close to falling asleep on Fives's shoulders,

"Commander, General Kenobi is looking for you," he informed her,

"Why didn't Master Kenobi just com me?" she asked,

"You left if at the apartment, but he needs your presence immediately… or maybe after you shower," he said, eyeing her sweat-soaked tunic. Esinon rolled her eyes,

"Hardy har," she grumbled, jumping off of Fives's shoulder, and walking out of the training room, Esinon walked past Neyo who she had failed to notice had been watching their entire training session. He had sat in on most of her ARC training drills, she never really asked why because why question it when he wasn't bothering anybody. She smiled and waved and disappeared to find Obi-Wan.

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon walked into the apartment, dropping her keys in the bowl, she was greeted with their dining room table covered in boxes of flimsi and data cards.

"Master… what is all this?" she asked,

"Hello Esinon, congratulations on passing your ARC test by the way,"

"Thanks," Esinon was really hoping these were the notes that she had managed to get him to bring up. "So what's all this?"

"Remember when I told you about Master Qui-Gon's research," She nodded, trying not to seem too excited. She'd done it! She got what she needed! "Well I thought it might be beneficial for you to see some of it…" he said, as she began flipping through a couple flimsi, "You remind me a lot of him," She smiled softly at him, "Now come padawan mine, help me organize this mess."

**A few weeks later…**

Esinon's mother's death had put a damper on everything she had been doing, and she had been visiting her dad a lot more often under the false pretense of helping the Coruscant guard. It was nice to be away from the temple, for now, she had managed to get Qui-Gon's notes from Obi-Wan. She felt bad about manipulating him, but she had gotten him to open up a lot about Qui-Gon, and he seemed a lot happier as of late. The only problem with the notes is they were largely unfinished and disorganized. Even with her speed, it was a large task.

Esinon was currently laying on the couch with a one-year-old Thea, drooling on her chest. She rubbed the babies back, everything felt calm here, she had just woken up from a nap herself. Her father walked past them, patting Esinon's head as she went.

"Senators Organa and Amidala are coming over in a bit, we've got an emergency meeting about the banks in a couple hours, I heard they're bringing puzzles if you want to help," he said, scanning a datapad, Esinon cradled Thea's bottom as she gently eased into a sitting position.

"Yeah Dad, I'd love to," she replied, her father smiled at her softly, studying her for a moment, '_You look so much like your mother,'_ She knew she wasn't meant to hear that thought, but it made Esinon's heart clench all the same.

She'd never been close with her mother until she'd start opening up as of late… it wasn't the kind of ache that she was met with when she had realized Gregor was gone as well after Sarrish. It was the kind of sorrow that came along with an entire shiny squad that had been wiped out before she even got to know their names. It was the loss of a relationship,

Thea began to stir as Esinon's sadness increased, the Jedi padawan quickly shoved her emotions downward and sent a wave of calm to the baby. It scared Esinon that her baby sister was already starting to show signs of force sensitivity, she didn't want the Jedi to catch wind of it.

She'd have at least until Thea was two until the Jedi could come and try to take her to the temple. But if the Jedi wanted Thea they would have to go through her first.

Esinon had started to increasingly act more like Qui-Gon, his lessons made more sense to her as a person than anything the council had ever taught her. Yes the lessons she had learned at the temple were invaluable, and she treasured Obi-Wan's teaching more than anything, but she was realizing that Qui-Gon was right when she was fighting for something, she felt stronger.

When she was with Fives and Echo she felt stronger when she was with Ahsoka, Xavier, and Barriss, she felt stronger, and she felt stronger when she was with Obi-Wan. Her love gave her strength, it was the reason her troops trusted her because they knew her not as a cold Commander, they knew her as the goofy teen who snuck around in the vents, and loved piggyback rides.

Thea cooed, reaching for her padawan braid, Esinon quickly flipped the braid behind her back. Thea had quickly expressed the trait of loving to pull on hair, and gumming Esinon's padawan braid.

She stood up, sensing that Thea was starting to get hungry. If there was anything she could do for her father at this point, it was to help take care of Thea. After all, Esinon was almost sixteen and had plenty of practice in the creche.

There was a knock at the door, probably Senator Amidala, and Organa. "Are you hungry?" Esinon asked, shaking a bottle and searching for Thea's sling, Thea cooed in response,

She could hear the joyful chatter of Senators and the sound of a puzzle being spread out. Personally, Esinon didn't have the patience for puzzles and ended up doing most of it with her speed, so Senator Amidala often brought three extra for Esinon to do. She put the sling on, placing Thea in the middle of it and joining the Senators,

"Esinon!" Padme exclaimed, immediately pulling the young padawan into a hug, careful not to jostle Thea too much.

"Hello Senator," Esinon greeted returning the gesture,

"Padme," she corrected before releasing Esinon. She sighed with a smile, leave it Padme to make Esinon feel more like a normal kid instead of a Commander. After all, this was the Windcaster home, her father and Bail were already set to work over the puzzles and a datapad. Esinon joined them, helping Thea with the bottle, using her free hand to help construct a puzzle of the Coruscant skyline.

She tried to let the Senators' conversation fall in the background of her mind because she didn't want to think about the war any more than she had to. She blamed the war for her mother's death, and Clovis. If he hadn't betrayed the Republic, her parents would be safe on Scipio right now.

"Esinon," Senator Organa spoke up, Esinon looked up from the puzzle, "How are the troops performing in the field?"

"As well as they always do, I can only speak for the 212th and the 501st, but they are performing valiantly," she replied, Bail nodded, turning his attention back to the datapad,

"Dad, speaking of troops, Fives and Echo said they were gonna stop by later," Esinon said, her father nodded absentmindedly. After her mother's death, her dad had thrown himself into his work trying to get the war to end as swiftly as possible because he wanted his daughter off the front lines.

**A few hours later...**

Esinon bounced Thea on her hip as she watched the Senate meeting from her perch with Anakin and Ahsoka. The entire room was a ruckus, and Esinon was lucky that Thea was a fairly calm baby. All this meeting had been was yelling about deregulating banks, and more money, more clones, and interest rates. This meeting was supposed to be about the war effort, but they never actually talked about why they were fighting in the first place.

When Esinon had been younger she didn't ask why they were fighting because Dooku carried a red lightsaber, and led the Separatists. Being only twelve she had reasoned that Dooku was a Sith, sith were evil, and any systems that followed behind him must be evil too. Now that she looked back on it, that was flawed reasoning… but other than military leaders she hadn't met other Separatists. Not that she wanted to, they were all pawns of Dooku.

"Order! Order!" Mas Amedda cried, rapping his staff against the floor of the Chancellor's pod, "Let Senator Saam finish," The senator from Tibrin moved his pod forward further,

"This is not a matter of philosophy. More troops are needed!" he yelled, Esinon wasn't sure if she agreed.

More troops meant more squads needing to be trained, and even with accelerated growth, it took years for a clone to fully grow. As many ARC troopers that could hit the field needed to, instead of being stuck on Kamino, besides the troops they had were performing well.

She didn't exactly want to deal with a bunch of stiff and excitable shinies, new troops were like trying to herd puppies, and the battlefield could get chaotic when too many people were asking her questions. "The Republic cannot afford to let the Separatists gain any more ground."

"Our Generals in the field have reported in the field continue to perform valiantly," Senator Organa said, Esinon's eyes flicked over to the Scipian pod where her father had been silently watching the whole time. "We cannot afford to be irresponsible. The Republic is nearing bankruptcy due to the cost of this war."

That was for sure, buying food and supplies was getting difficult with the amount of money that was being poured into this war. The mechanics had been working overtime to fix ships without access to new parts, hammering out coolant vents to repair them wasn't fun. It was tedious and time-consuming.

At Senator Organa's last comment, the crowd erupted in both cheers and boos, but the yelling caused Thea to start to cry. Esinon bounced the baby, her father glanced up and Esinon motioned that Thea was fine.

"Bankruptcy is not necessary my friends," Lott Dod said, the ruckus in the room quieted for a moment. Esinon personally didn't like members of the banking clan, because she didn't trust people who dealt so closely with money. It made them greedy and selfish. On top of that, the Muun people ran a hefty part of the banking clan. The Muuns had almost made her people extinct, it was the reason Scipian's had yellow markings. They were easier to see in the snow and you could tell who was friend or foe. Many years ago the Muuns had attempted to exterminate every human from the planet's surface of Scipio… until they had made peace, either way, it made her uneasy.

And the banking clan may have been paying Scipio hefty amounts of money to keep the vaults on Scipio, but again she didn't trust people who made friends with credits. "If we pass Senator Saam's bill, to open new lines of credit, we will gain access to the needed funds."

"Won't this bill essentially deregulate the banks?" Mon Mothma asked,

"A small price to pay to finance the war, is it not?" Senator Burtoni said, another person she didn't trust. She didn't trust the Kaminoans, not with the way they looked at the clones. Her brothers.

"We must keep the war going!" Someone in the room shouted,

"Get the bill on the table!" Another cheered, the room burst out in a cacophony of shouts and screams with a recurring theme, keep the war going, keep the war going, keep the war going, she scoffed to herself.

'_Senators can sit here and yell about war all day, but they're not the ones fighting on the front lines.' _She saw her father move his pod forward,

"Members of the Senate!" he shouted, commanding all attention to himself. He looked regal standing there, Esinon turned Thea to the side so she could see their father. "Do you hear yourselves? More money, more troops, more war. Say nothing of fiscal responsibility, what about moral responsibility?" He glanced up at his daughters, "Hasn't this war gone on long enough?"

"Senator Windcaster, are you suggesting we surrender to the Separatists?" Senator Saam accused, her father didn't even bat an eye at the accusation of being a Separatist. He had become accustomed to it after Clovis.

"Of course not," he replied, "But negotiation might be a better course of action."

"You can't negotiate with those animals!" Mot-Not Rab shouted, throwing his fist into the air. Before her father could get another word in, Mot-Not shouted again, "Keep the war going! Vote now!" A chant began to echo through the room,

"Keep the war going! Keep the war going! Keep the war going!" Ahsoka glanced at Esinon, both girls were getting tired of the war. Ahsoka was going on eighteen, and Esinon on sixteen. It'd been almost four years of this and neither of them really understood what they were fighting for exactly.

"Members of the Senate," Bail Organa said, the room again went silent. "I suggest we table any emergency bill until it is determined whether or not deregulation is necessary is the right course of action."

"Very well," Mas Amedda said before anyone could start arguing again. "We shall let calmer heads prevail." Esinon studied Lot Dod's and Senator Saam's faces, they didn't look too happy. She smirked, let her father stick it to them.

She followed Anakin and Ahsoka out, they headed towards the Naboo pod as she headed towards the Scipio pod. Her father met her at the door, looking a little worse for wear than he had inside the meeting room.

"You did great dad," she said, shifting Thea in her arms a little bit.

"Thanks, Peanut," he replied, already staring at a datapad. "Can you watch Thea for a little bit? I'm heading to Mon Mothma's for a little bit so I can talk with Bail and Padme about our debate on this new bill."

"Course dad, Fives and Echo'll help me,"

"Good, good, brothers are always helpful," he murmured absentmindedly, kissing her temple, "Love you Peanut,"

"Love you too dad," she said, he smiled at her before leaving. Esinon headed down the hall to find Anakin, Ahsoka, and Padme,

"You must ask the Jedi council to speak with Chancellor Palpatine." Padme implored, Anakin shook his head,

"Don't involve me in this," he said,

"A peaceful solution is the only way out of this morass of war." she shot back,

"That's not my role, Padme."

"Why not?" Ahsoka asked, "Why isn't it your role? Aren't we Jedi Knights?" Well, Anakin was a Knight, she and Ahsoka not so much, but they still had their duty. Thea stirred at the increase of heated emotions around her, "Isn't it our duty to speak our minds to advise the Chancellor?" Anakin cleared his throat uncomfortably,

"Uh I suggest you teach my young padawans a thing or two about politics," he said, Obi-Wan and Anakin had always had a dual-training arrangement with their padawans.

"After today's debate, I was hoping they learned a great deal," Padme replied,

"Truthfully I don't understand any of it." Ahsoka said, "I know the Separatists are evil, but all anyone argued about was banking deregulation, interest rates, and well, almost nothing about why we're fighting in the first place." Anakin quickened his pace to get in front of the group.

"War's complicated Ahsoka. But let me simplify it. The Separatists believe the Republic is corrupt, but they're wrong, and we have to restore order."

"That's a very black and white way of looking at it," Esinon remarked, Padme nodded,

"Maybe talking to the Jedi council isn't the role for you after all." she began to stroll past him, "Thanks for your help, come along Ahsoka," Esinon shrugged at Anakin before leaving for the Windcaster apartment.

**A few hours later…**

"How many times have you watched this movie?" Fives asked as Esinon mouthed the next line that came out of Inigo Montoya's mouth. _My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die. _

"This is my favorite movie, I used to watch this with Nadar all the time," she replied, as Wesley and Inigo began their duel. Echo hadn't been saying much since he and Thea were passed out asleep. The baby girl was steadily drooling down the ARC's chest plate as Fives and Esinon continued their movie.

"The effects are terrible,"

"It was created a long time ago," she said, "now shush, the man in black is probably gonna say something cool in a minute." The door to the apartment opened and one of her father's aids came walking through. "Hello Mirian," Esinon greeted,

"My lady," Mirian replied, ducking her head slightly as she grabbed a few new data cards. Her parents had only ever hired the one aid when they came to Coruscant to help them because they mainly relied on each other. "Fives, Echo," Fives waved to the aid, and Echo gave a soft snore in response. Mirian smiled before leaving the room,

"I like her," Echo murmured,

"Inconceivable," Fives joked, Esinon giggled, slapping her brother's shoulder.

**A few hours later…**

Esinon as overjoyed, exhilarated, any word you want to use because, by some act of the force, the Separatists had extended an olive branch of peace. She hadn't believed it when her dad came rushing into the apartment, almost talking faster than she could. Now she was trying to keep Thea entertained while listening to Senator Amidala, Esinon suspected that Padme had something to do with the fact the peace negotiations had been extended in the first place.

"Given that the Separatists have put up a call for negotiations on the table, the need for additional troops is ill-timed," Padme said,

"This means there will be no need to deregulate the banks." Senator Organa finished,

"I move that we vote down the need for additional troops, now," Daniel added,

"There is a move to vote on the proposed bill to lift regulations on the Banking Clan." Mas Amedda said, "You may now enter your votes," the Senator room went quiet except for the tapping of fingers against buttons. Her father looked up at her and smiled when everything suddenly went dark, the emergency lights flickered on, flooding the room with red light as the room filled with the commotion of voices. Esinon jumped to her feet, a loud explosion sounded outside,

"We're under attack!" Senator Taa screamed, of course, he would be the first to panic, but Esinon's heart was thumping loudly. Coruscant hadn't been attacked in a thousand years. All of the Senators who had had their pods out in the open quickly returned to their spots. Esinon spotted Ahsoka at a perch across the room, they nodded to each other, stepping out of the Senate room, Esinon sprinted to meet up with Ahsoka.

"What's going on?" she asked, Ahsoka wrung her fingers,

"Until someone contacts us, I don't know," Esinon passed Ahsoka Thea, reaching out for memories, a few images of a burning power grid appeared, droids, droids armed with bombs that were disguised as cleaners.

"The power grid… it's been bombed."

**One hour later…**

"The bombing of the power generator has been confirmed as a Separatist attack," Senator Saam said, "They must pay for what they have done!" Strategically, this attack didn't exactly make sense with the Separatists just extending an olive branch of peace.

"But it was the Separatist Congress that issued the bill of peace!" Senator Amidala argued,

"Obviously a tactic to lower our defenses, and attack." Mas Amedda shot back,

"That's not true!" Padme said, panic and frustration starting to creep into her normally even voice,

"I move to immediately deregulate the banks," Senator Burtoni said, her elderly head wavering on her long neck. Of course, she would, she just wanted more money.

"We need a bank loan to get more troops now!" Mot-Not shouted,

"What are we waiting for?" Another asked,

"I'm afraid we've been given little choice, to ensure the safety of the Republic, we must deregulate the banks." Chancellor Palpatine said Esinon's heart sank. Everything her father was fighting for was crumbling.

**Midnight, the Jedi Temple…**

"Wait, wait, wait," Esinon giggled, "He tried to flirt with you?" Ahsoka snorted,

"Yeah, I said 'see I'm not so bad' and he went," she went into a terrible accent, "No, not bad at all," Esinon burst out laughing,

"That's awful!" she exclaimed,

"I know, it was bad," Ahsoka replied, except her lekku had darkened ten shades,

"Wait a second," Esinon said, getting a big grin on her face, "You like him,"

"I do not," she protested, but her lekku darkened until they were almost black.

"Ahh! You do!" Esinon teased, Ahsoka rolled her eyes,

"He's handsome in a square-jawed kinda way,"

"I can't believe it! You like Lux Bonteri!" Esinon stuck out her tongue in a childish manner. "And on top of you being a Jedi, he's a Separatist? Ewwww,"

"Says you, you've fallen for a Mandalorian Prince, that's almost as bad." Ahsoka retorted, Esinon blushed,

"Korkie and I are just friends,"

"Friends don't make your cheeks flush like that," Ahsoka said, tapping Esinon's face. The Scipian rolled her eyes,

"What would our Master's think of us?" she wondered aloud,

"They're almost as bad," Ahsoka giggled, "Probably worse, have you seen Master Skywalker around Senator Amidala?"

"It's not as bad as Master Kenobi and the Duchess," Esinon said, mock gagging,

"Some Jedi we are," Ahsoka joked,

"Knighthood is just around the corner," Esinon added, they fist-bumped before returning to their game and talk of boys and the terrible examples their Master's were.

* * *

**Did I write this while watching the princess bride? Yes, yes I did. That may or may not be the reason I used it in this chapter. And just think that the movie is set before Jedi used lightsabers. Jedi used to use swords made of metal before the invention of lightsabers.**

**#puzzleparty for whoever wanted it **

**enjoy some wholesome Ahsoka and Esinon banter. For the sake of the story moving quickly, I have to cut a lot of the scenes between Esinon and Ahsoka where they're just talking, but this one got to stay in. They spend a lot of nights hanging out in each other's room and playing board games in the dead of night. **

**My aesthetic is that when Esinon isn't around to care for Thea, Daniel just goes into a Senate meeting with a baby strapped to his chest. He's talking about interest and bank regulation while Thea chews on his robe, yet everyone still takes him seriously, because, just like his daughter, Daniel can command a room. **

**Even though not a lot happens action in this chapter, it was fun to write. A lot of Esinon's own internal thoughts about war. **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: For my peoples who have read Calvin and Hobbes. Remember Calvin ball? And the rules changed every four seconds, I feel like the clones have their own version of that. It's basically a stampede of armored children as they tackle each other for the ball. Anakin tried to play once but quickly gave up, because he didn't understand the rules. Problem is, there aren't any rules. **

**Thank you for reading! Make sure to leave a review! **


	26. Pursuit of Peace

**I just wanted to say a quick thank you to you all! The support and feedback I have gotten on this story is incredible! It really means a lot to see that people like the stuff I create! Thank you so much!**

* * *

**The next day…**

"Members of the Senate, please, please," Palpatine said, trying to calm everyone.

"How dare they!" someone yelled,

"They attack and now they want peace?" another yelled,

"Chancellor Palpatine," Padme said, moving her pod forward, "may I remind the Senators that it was the Separatists who made the peace proposal prior to the assault."

"That only highlights its insincerity," Mot-Not replied,

"Chancellor Palpatine," Senator Bortoni said, moving her pod, "in light of this unprovoked attack on Coruscant and the vulnerabilities it raises. I propose the Republic purchase an additional five million clone troopers." Esinon flinched, she hated talking about the clones like they were things, instead of people. That's what the Kaminoans thought, the clones were property.

"The Republic is already operating in deep debt!" Esinon's father, Daniel, shot back, "How do you propose we pay for these additional troops?"

"My people are drafting an emergency appropriation bill that would raise funds-"

"From the banking clan?" Her father asked,

"Yes, of course," Senator Burtoni shot back, "Unless you have an alternate means of payment?"

"One alternative might be to stop the war instead of escalating it," he countered,

"Traitor!" Orn Free Ta shouted Esinon's blood began to boil as the room began to chant that her father was a traitor. He worked harder than any other Senator in that room. The room was filled with a cacophony of screaming and yelling as pods were shoved closer to one another as the argument escalated,

"Whoever attacked the power grid wants us to continue fighting," Daniel said, "It is a calculated attempt to destroy the peace process."

"I agree," Padme added, "Not everyone in the Confederacy wants this. I know this for a fact."

"You have friends who are Separatists, Senator?" Senator Deechi accused,

"Whose side are you on!" Senator Rhood shouted the room erupted in screams and accusations. Esinon frowned, this is why the war wasn't ending because no one could agree on anything ever.

"Please," Chancellor Palpatine raised a hand, quieting the room instantly. "The young Senators from Scipio and Naboo make a point, there is no need too-" Mas Amedda signaled the Chancellor and they conversed for a brief moment in quiet, the room buzzing with anticipation. "We have received a message from our opponent, Count Dooku." Esinon involuntarily flinched, how people could follow after a man so evil, she didn't know. The man appeared,

"Your Republic forces have carried out a barbaric attack on our people and among the deaths, was the very sponsor of the peace accord, Senator Mina Bonteri."

"What?" Padme exclaimed, "No," she whispered,

"With her needless death, I must formally withdraw the proposal for peace offered by our Senate." Dooku disappeared, her heart sank, she wanted this war to end so badly, and now their only chance of that was replaced with the possibility of shinies getting thrust into battle before their training was complete.

"We must not show weakness!" a Senator yelled, again, all attempts for Esinon to think were drowned out by the screaming. She was starting to realize that the Senate building was its own kind of battlefield. She glanced down at her comlink seeing there was a summons for her at the temple, probably from Master Kenobi. He glanced down at her father, he would be fine on his own for a little bit, and Thea would be ok with Mirian. She'd made her decision and disappeared from the Senate building.

* * *

Padme was fuming, Daniel was mostly keeping quiet as he followed Bail, Padme, Onacanda, and Teckla down the hallway as they headed towards Padme's office.

"Thank you Teckla," Padme said, handing the datapad over to her aid,

"Yes my lady," Teckla said and started off in a different direction.

"I can't believe it," Padme said, "I just can't believe it. Why would Republic forces target Senator Bonteri? She was the only one who was brave enough to stand up for peace." Daniel finally spoke up,

"Then don't believe it, the Republic spies are reporting that Senator Bonteri was murdered by Dooku's thugs. That message to the Senate was just a ploy to disguise his true actions." Daniel said, crossing his arms over his chest as they entered Padme's office.

"I am so sorry Padme," Onacanda said, Padme nodded at the Rodian,

"If your friend met with a violent end because of her politics, let's make sure her courageous effort wasn't vain." Bail said,

"What can we do?" Padme asked,

"For one," Daniel began, "defeat this bill,"

"Can we really win this war with the troops we have?" Padme asked,

"Let's hope we don't have to," Bail replied, "I'll start lining up support but I'll need ammunition."

"We can't afford ammunition, remember?" Onacanda joked everyone cringed, it was too soon. "I joke,"

"Daniel, go to the banking clan and see how much interest they're going to charge for the loan. The more I know about the exact cost of this bill, the better I can make my case to defeat it." Bail said he nodded,

"I'll come with you," Padme said, "You too Uncle, you owe use for making such a bad joke." Onacanda sighed,

"Tee ta poo shak aka," he muttered,

**A few minutes later…**

"We will lend the Republic at our standard interest rate of… twenty-five percent." Senator Lawise said, Daniel resisted the urge to let his jaw drop, but Padme and Onacando did not, Padme leapt out of her chair.

"What?!"

"Twenty-five percent! That's outright theft!" Onacanda fired, slamming his fists down on his desk.

"Your previous arrangement with the Republic was ten percent," Daniel said, pulling Padme back into her seat.

"That was before the deregulation," Senator Lawise replied, Daniel scowled at him, "The same rules don't apply. The Separatists don't seem to mind the rate hike." Sometimes Daniel really hated that the banking clan operated off of Scipio. "In fact, they just secured a loan for an additional three million battle droids." His stomach did a flip, Esinon, his daughter would have to go fight those three million battle droids. She could be killed by one of those droids, he couldn't lose Esinon.

"They will wipe us out," Onacanda said,

"You would let Dooku do that?" Padme exclaimed, noticing the pale look on Daniel's face. "You live on Coruscant too,"

"We have no stake in this war Senator," he said casually, "You know that," he steepled his fingers. "War is… distasteful to all of us, isn't that right Senator Windcaster?" Daniel's fist balled as he resisted the urge to deck the Muun right there. Padme nodded a farewell to Senator Lawise before grabbing Daniel's hand and Onacanda followed them out.

**Later that night…**

"Twenty-five percent!" Bail exclaimed, looking down at the datapad, "That's a lot of credits,

"The interest alone could completely bankrupt the Republic as it is. Social services have suffered because of this war, education, infrastructures, health care. If we go deeper into debt the basic need of our people will evaporate." Daniel replied, bouncing Thea on his hip, Mirian had to run home for a few hours, and he wanted to spend time with his daughter anyways.

"This is good," Bail said,

"It is?" he asked, a little surprised, without Ava by his side he doubted his abilities, in well, everything.

"Certainly, taking out a loan on such obscene terms would essentially destroy the Republic, regardless of the outcome of the war. We only need to sway a handful of Senators, as long as they don't buckle underneath the threats."

"What threats?" Padme asked,

"Some members have received messages warning them not to vote against the bill. Considering what's happened to your friend Bonteri, they're frightened." Bail said,

**The next day…**

"Can't you see this bill is short-sided?" Padme asked, "Millions of clones won't win this war. The only winner will be the banking clan. They want to pass this bill so badly, they're using scare tactics to sway the vote." Padme explained to the small group of Senators in front of them.

"I'm not intimated, Senator Amidala," Mat-Not said, despite his arm being a sling.

"Then why are you voting for additional troops?" Daniel asked,

"I happen to believe more clones is precisely what we need, and my caucus agrees." Daniel for one, knew first hand that the clones were still performing at top-level performance, from what Esinon had told him and he often had two ARC troopers in his house. "I'm sorry," Mot-Not said, and with that, the small group of Senators dispersed, and Onocando was revealed with his arm in a sling, followed by Lolo.

"Uncle Ono!" Padme exclaimed, "What happened?"

"Two thugs jumped me, but I am fine," he said,

"This is outrageous," Padme said, placing a hand on the Rodian's shoulder. "Something must be done."

"Padme, this," he motioned to his arm, "will not change my mind. No matter what, I will vote against this bill."

**Later that night…**

"As long as Senators are being threatened and attacked, I'm afraid we don't stand a chance," Padme said,

"Intimidation won't work on everyone," Daniel said, "Senator Farr is proof of that."

"Even so, we're still six votes short of majority." Padme said, "And you saw how effective my plea was."

"Some minds can't be altered no matter what they hear." Bail said,

"From my experience, it depends a great deal on who's sending the message." she shot back,

"And who would that be?" Bail asked,

"Bail, you're one of the finest public speakers I know. If anyone can convince the Senate that voting will bankrupt the Republic both financially and spiritually, it's you." Padme insisted,

"She's right you know," Daniel said,

"It will be dangerous," Bail said,

"I urge you to speak before the full Senate," she said,

"I'll need some time to prepare," he replied,

"Good," Padme sighed with relief, "In the meantime, I'll pay another visit to those who are still undecided."

"I'll come with you," Daniel said, "Esinon and Echo are watching Thea tonight."

* * *

"What does ideology matter at this point? Is it worth getting beaten to death?" Senator Christo asked, "Look at what they did to Senator Farr."

"Wounds heal, but what about the millions that are dying because of this war?" Daniel asked,

"Who? The clones?" Senator Christo asked casually, "We created them just for that purpose." A look of disgust crossed Daniel's face, anyone that knew him personally knew about the picture he had on his desk that included his daughters, and two clones. He knew better than most Senators that the clones were people, with individual personalities,

"They're people too," he shot back,

"The people I care about are my constituents, the ones who put me in office."

"And when was the last time you spoke to those people?" Daniel asked,

"Probably the same time you did." he replied, pouring himself a drink, "Or you Senator,"

"Senator Christo, please, is there anything we can do to change your mind?" Padme asked, he sighed,

"Where does Senator Organa stand on all of this? Why isn't he here?" he asked,

"He is preparing to speak before the full Senate," Padme explained,

"Senator Organa… I'll listen to what he has to say." Christo said,

"So you're open to voting with us?" she asked hopefully,

"I said I'll listen to what he has to say," the quarren shot back, and with that, they were dismissed from his apartment.

* * *

"Well it's better than a no," Padme said, optimistically, "And I'm sure when Christo and the others hear what Bail has to say, they will vote our way."

"I admire your optimism," he replied,

"Thank you, I think it also admirable that you are a voice for the clones in the Senate," Padme said,

"Well, that happens when their men your daughter calls brother," he replied, "I like Fives and Echo a lot, and they're truly some of the bravest men I've ever met."

"Esinon is a very lovely girl," Padme said, Daniel nodded smiling fondly, "Can I give you a ride?"

"My speeder's only a block away, and I think the walk will do me some good," he said,

"Are you sure?" she asked nervously,

"Positive, with my daughter being a Jedi, I'm no stranger to risk. I'll see you back at the Senate."

"Be careful," Padme said, climbing into her speeder. Daniel nodded before starting the walk to his own, it was quiet, well, quiet for Coruscant. The planet was always buzzing, and there wasn't a quiet hour in the night.

It was very different from Scipio. Animals chattered as they wrestled over a bit of food, this street was empty, eerily empty. He could hear footsteps patter behind him, footsteps that didn't match with his own. He spotted an alleyway, ducking into it, pulling out the blaster he carried around in his robes and waiting.

A couple walked past, laughing and talking, he let out a breath, maybe all these Senate threats were getting to him more than he thought.

He lowered his blaster starting out of the alleyway, when a creature jumped out, roaring. Something jumped on top of him, he yelped, ramming his back against the wall trying to release himself, the large creature pulled out a knife running towards him, knocking Daniel's blaster out of his hand.

He yelled at the top of his lungs, hoping that a Coruscant guard or police droid would hear him until then he wasn't planning on dying.

He rammed the fish creature into a box behind him, finally loosening its death grip. He grabbed its flipper throwing it into the larger one. He tried to break for his blaster but was quickly knocked to his feet. The large creature wrenched him over about to slit Daniel's throat when police droids appeared.

"Put your hands up." They commanded, Daniel shoved the creature away,

"Arrest these bounty hunters," he demanded,

"We'll take care of this sir," the droid said, both hunters stood up and put their hands in the air. "Drop your weapons and come with us quietly," Daniel gathered himself, deciding to leave the blaster and began to head back towards his speeder.

"Quietly?" the larger one cackled, a bright flash of red light and both police droids had blaster bolts through the chest. Daniel took off like a shot, but his speeder was gone. The bounty hunters must have stolen it, he spotted a speeder bike one platform over. He sprinted to it, hopping on before the couple from earlier could get to it.

"Hey! My ride!" the twi'lek yelled,

"Sorry!" Daniel called over his shoulder, he felt the speeder dip slightly and looked behind him to see the larger bounty hunter had latched on with a cable. He sped up, driving extremely illegally, as he tried to lose his assailant. After a few sharp twists and turns later, the hunter was still attached to his speeder. He turned another corner, ramming the hunter into another speeder. He grinned to himself and hit another sharp corner, he heard the roar of another speeder behind and saw the little fish creature gaining on him.

Daniel looked around for a new idea and spotted one a few streets down, he dove down and rammed the hunter attached to his speeder through guard lights. He spotted a bunch of crates a few blocks down, he revved the engines, heading straight for them.

At the last second, he pulled up, letting the hunter take the brunt of the blow. Persistent as ever, the hunter didn't let go, he had been so wrapped up in the larger one he had forgotten about the fish. That is until the fish rammed his speeder into Daniel's, he rammed back, starting to get frustrated.

This distracted Daniel long enough for the fish's partner to get on top of his speeder and reach a three-fingered hand for him. In a moment of panic, he ripped off a part of the speeder, causing oil to spurt everywhere,

"Ah! My eyes!" The larger one cried, Daniel revved his engines again as he continued the ramming fight with the fish. He spotted a ledge and dove, successfully losing the fish, and got rid of the larger one by ramming him into a sign. Now both of them were chasing him on a speeder, he ducked around another corner, desperately trying to lose the bounty hunters.

He thought he had achieved his mission until he was stopped by a barricade of three police cruisers,

"Land the vehicle!" an officer shouted, Daniel skidded to a stop. "This is a stolen vehicle," another cruiser came up to flank him.

"Those bounty hunters were trying to kill me!" he shouted angrily, "I am a Senator! I demand that you arrest them!"

"Get your hands in the air!"

**A few hours later…**

Esinon bounced Thea attempting to keep her sister entertained as Echo busied himself in the kitchen. Mirian came out holding Thea's pajamas,

"Thank you, Mirian,"

"Of course my lady," she replied,

"You really don't need to call me that," Esinon insisted, Mirian shrugged, helping Esinon change Thea. The blast door to the apartment opened, to a very tired and frustrated looking Daniel with a scratch on his cheek. "Dad!" Esinon exclaimed, passing Thea to Mirian and rushing to her father. "What happened?"

"Bounty hunters" he grumbled before he could blink an eye his daughter was gone and back with medical supplies.

"Were they captured?" Esinon asked, already opening up the medical supplies. Echo had poked his head out the kitchen but Esinon waved him off, she dragged Daniel and had him sit on the couch.

"No, they got away," he said, flinching away as his daughter started to clean the scrape.

"Do you know what they looked like?" she asked,

"Uh well one looked like a fish, and the other was a…" he paused trying to think of the species of the creature, it was dark when it happened and it all happened so fast, "Abednedo," She clicked her comlink,

"Thorn, I need an APB on two bounty hunters here on Coruscant. A fish-like creature, most likely Patrolian and Abednedo," she said,

"Esinon you don't need-"

"Dad," she gave him a stern look,

"You've got it, Commander, we'll catch them," Thorn replied,

"Thank you, Thorn," Her comlink buzzed again,

"Esinon, we need you back at the temple, it's time for bed," Master Kenobi said,

"Alright, I'm coming," she grumbled,

"I can take it from here," Mirian said, cradling a sleeping Thea. Esinon gave a nod of thanks, before hugging Daniel,

"Goodnight dad, I love you," she whispered,

"I love you too Peanut," he replied, Echo was waiting at the door, escorting the young Jedi out.

**A few hours later…**

Daniel had finally gotten wailing Thea to calm down enough to go to sleep. Esinon warned him that Thea was already starting to show signs of force sensitivity and could sense his emotions. Thea had been so much fussier since Ava died. Ava… he sighed, pressing his forehead to his fists as he leaned against the balcony outside the living room.

"Ava," he whispered, "Esinon said you'll never really be gone because there is no death, there is the force. I don't know how much I believe in the force, but then again our daughter can lift rocks without touching them, so, I don't know what to tell you." He chuckled softly, "I guess it's worth believing in, we don't have much else." He let out a shaky breath, "I don't know what to do without you, and raising Thea, and trying to help Esinon, it's all so much. I was attacked today, by bounty hunters who were paid off to keep me from voting against the upcoming bill." He finally rose from his slumped position against the balcony, "What has happened to democracy?" he wondered to himself quite loudly, "And why doesn't anyone seem to care,"

"You care, sir," Mirian said, Daniel jumped at his aid's sudden appearance. He wondered how much she had heard of his conversation with his wife's ghost. "Forgive me, sir," she apologized. "Well, you're not like most politicians." He smiled softly,

"If only that were enough Mirian,"

"Well, you actually talk to the people… people like me!" It was true, often he and Ava would go on walks and talk to the people of Coruscant. Mirian froze, wondering if she had overstepped, she decided not to stick around to find out.

"Mirian!" he called after her, "How is your family?" he asked, he knew Mirian had two little boys, he had seen pictures and they were precious.

"They're… fine," Mirian said slowly, surprised someone like him was asking how she was doing,

"How is the war affecting them?" he asked, walking towards his aid,

"Well, it hasn't been easy, and it's only been getting worse," Mirian replied solemnly,

"How?" he asked, "How is it affecting them? Tell me, please?"

**The next day…**

Daniel walked around the halls of the Senate building with Thea in his arms, searching for Bail or Padme. It was strange, he hadn't seen them all morning, and he wanted to tell them about him and Mirian's talk last night.

"Daniel!" Onacanda called, rushing down the hallway, looking frightened.

"What is it?" he asked, shifting Thea in his arms as the baby began to stir from her nap.

"You must come quickly," he said, "You need to see something," They quickly hurried to Padme's office where Ono opened up a channel on a holo device, Bail Organa lay before him, looking disoriented and dazed, while in the arms of a guard.

"Bail! What happened?" Daniel exclaimed,

"Daniel," Bail groaned,

"Senator, you need to lie down," the guard instructed, but Bail didn't listen,

"My speech… my speech, the Senate is expecting me." He heard Padme groaning in the background,

"Padme was with him during the crash," Ono explained, Daniel froze for a second. He could still remember the very second he received the news, a drunk driver crashed into his wife's speeder. She was dead before she hit the ground.

"Is there any way?" he asked, shaking himself from his stupor.

"I'm sorry, neither of them are even in the condition to stand." The guard explained, "We have to take them to the hospital."

"Of course," Ono said, "take them at once,"

"Daniel, you must address the Senate," Bail pleaded, "Only you can do this." Ono shut down the device.

"Daniel, you have to speak in Bail's place," the Scipian Senator began to pace the room.

"But they're expecting the great Bail Organa. He carries a certain weight, even Padme could do better than me. They're seen as voices of reason." he argued,

"You're very respected," Ono assured him,

"As a partisan. I've been against this bill since day one. If they didn't listen to me before, why would they listen now?"

"Because you do listen," Mirian said, holding one of his formal robes, you understand what the people are going through. "Please," she held up the robe, "Your people are waiting for you,"

* * *

Esinon paced anxiously in front of the Scipian pod, where was Senator Organa, Padme, her father? The voices against this bill were about to be silenced! Her father came sprinting down the Senate halls, holding Thea in his arms.

"Good, Esinon you're here. I want to hear this," he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her into the pod.

"Dad! Where have you been? Where's Senator Organa and Amidala?" Esinon asked in a hushed whispered,

"Speech now, questions later, he said, entering the pod.

"Let us now vote on Senator Burtoni's bill to fund five million additional clones," Mas Amedda announced,

"The opposition to this bill must be allowed to speak first." Mon Mothma argued,

"Unfortunately Senator Organa is nowhere to be found," Senator Deechi said,

"I will speak on his behalf," Daniel said, motioning for Esinon to sit as he moved his pod to the center of the room. All eyes fell on him as he held Thea tightly in his arms,

"Senator Windcaster will be permitted to speak," Mas Amedda announced. Daniel took a deep breath, glancing at Esinon and then at Mirian, who was tucked away above.

"As most of you probably know by now," he began, "I am a family man," this elicited a chuckle from the crowd of Senators as Thea peered around the room. "I have two beautiful daughters, and I love them more than anything in the galaxy. I am so privileged to live the life that I have," he glanced up at Mirian before focusing his attention back on the Senators around him. "But I am not the only family man in the Republic. I am not the only one who has beautiful children that they love, and not all of them are as privileged to live the life that I do. Mirian Acosta is one of those such people. Mirian is my aid, and like me, she has two little boys. Her husband works two jobs, while the boys stay at home with their grandmother. Mirian, like so many of the people we tell ourselves that we are here to serve… Mirian lives in a district that rarely has electricity and running water as a result of this war. Her children can now only bathe every two weeks, and they have no light to read or study at night. The Republic has always funded these basic services, but now there are those who would divert money to the war with no thought of what the people need to survive. If not for people like Mirian and her children, who are we fighting for? My people, your people, all of our people, this war is meant to save them from suffering, not increase it. I support our brave soldiers, whether they come from the cloning facilities, or from the thousands of systems loyal to the Republic, but if we continue to impoverish our people, it is not on the battlefield where Dooku will defeat us. It will be in our own homes. Therefore, it is our responsibility to preserve the lives of those around us, and defeat this bill!" The room erupted in cheering and clapping, Esinon stood up and joined her father,

"Dad, that was incredible!" she exclaimed, Daniel's chest swelled with pride as Thea clapped her hands and yelled happily along with the Senators. He pulled both of his daughters into a hug,

"I love you both, I love you both more than all the stars in the sky," he whispered,

* * *

***Clap, clap, clap* Ok, Windcaster family for the win.**

**Just something I thought you guys should know, Esinon's name means sunset chaser**

**Whoever wanted a puzzle party, here ya go! **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: Not relevant to the chapter but, R2 doesn't actually know anyone's name, except maybe Anakin. He just gives nicknames to everyone, like for Ahsoka it's orange child, and for Rex, it's blond protector, and for Obi-Wan, it's sassy beard, or my personal favorite, Yoda is green sock**

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	27. Senate Murders

**A few days later…**

Esinon wandered around the halls of the Senate building, the vote for the troop increase was tonight. After her father's speech, things were starting to sway his way. She could hear the voice of Master Kenobi, he wasn't one for the Senate building… she turned the corner and saw Duchess Kryze and her Master. And that was why he was in the Senate building. She instantly lit up when an auburn head bobbed not far behind them,

"Korkie!" she exclaimed, running over, Korkie wheedled his way around the adults to meet with her, "You didn't tell me you were gonna be here,"

"Well I couldn't," he said, flicking his eyes towards the adults. Esinon internally cringed, she forgot how they weren't really supposed to communicate.

"Right," she replied, "Come on, we can go to my dad's office," she grabbed his arm and dragged him down the hallway.

* * *

"You know they remind me of us back in the day," Satine said, watching the two teenagers walk off down the hallway, chattering the whole way. Obi-Wan hummed,

"Yes, with considerably less arguing," he replied,

"Maybe we should follow their lead," she said, placing her hand in the crook of his arm.

"Maybe we should," Obi-Wan replied, leading her down the hallway.

* * *

Esinon's hand hovered over the panel to her father's office, she could sense someone inside. Someone that was not her father, she knew she would be able to sense if it was Padme, Bail, or Ono. She instinctively shoved Korkie behind her,

"What's wro-" he didn't get to finish because Esinon slapped a hand over his mouth. She shook her head and Korkie nodded, he grabbed her hand, gripping it tightly. She counted to three and slammed her hand down on the control panel, she ignited her saber at seeing a nineteen-year-old boy and a woman.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my-" she never got to finish because a stun-blaster fired behind her and the world went black.

* * *

"Nana!" The boy cried, rushing over to Esinon. Korkie jumped protectively over her body,

"Back up," he growled, the boy backed up making a placating gesture.

"Nana, why would you do that?" The boy exclaimed, Korkie looked over to see an elderly woman blowing smoke off the top of a stun blaster.

"No one point weapon at me," the woman said, Korkie knelt down next to Esinon.

"Esinon? Esinon can you hear me?" he asked, the girl groaned, holding her head as she slowly sat up,

"What happened?"

"Mom, what did you do?" Daniel asked, running into the room and seeing his daughter on the floor, and an elderly woman holding a stun blaster.

"Dad?" Esinon asked in a quiet voice,

"Peanut, are you alright?" Her dad asked, kneeling down next to her.

"There are weird people in your office," she grumbled,

"Uh- I have some explaining to do. Sorry I didn't warn you," he said, hefting his daughter to her feet.

"Someone shot me," she grumbled,

"That would be my mom," he said, motioning to the elderly woman who was stuffing the stun blaster in her purse.

"You no point weapon at me." the older woman snapped,

"She's on an active battlefield half the time Mom, what did you expect?" Daniel said, searching his still dazed daughter for injuries.

"Again, no point weapon at me," and with that, she tottered off to a seperate part of the office.

"Dad, what's going on?" Esinon asked, waving off Korkie's concerned look.

"Anna, Elliot, and my mom are staying with us for the next couple days," he explained, he motioned to the woman first, she had long blonde hair and blue eyes that matched the boy's, her son she assumed. "That's your Aunt Anna, your cousin Elliot, and your Nana."

"Sorry for almost attacking you," Esinon said, as Elliot approached her,

"Should have expected as much from my cousin who's a Jedi." he sounded so proud to be related to a Jedi. She guessed it was pretty cool to be related to a Jedi from an outside perspective, but since she was one, and was around them all the time, it seemed less cool. "I'm Elliot,"

"Esinon," she replied, shaking his hand, maybe her family had a thing for 'e' names and she didn't know about it yet.

"Esinon, if you're alright I'm going to go talk to my mom about that blaster," Daniel said, already heading towards his elderly mother. Esinon nodded,

"Come on, let's go find somewhere to talk," Esinon said, grabbing Korkie's hand and motioning for Elliot to follow her. She led both of them out to the balcony off her father's office. "Alright Korkie, you first, why are you here?"

"Aunt Satine wanted me to observe the Senate meeting with the troop increase and all," he explained, leaning against the balcony,

"Elliot?"

"Like Uncle Daniel said, my mom, Nana, and I are here for a few days."

"Why?" she demanded, frustrated at Elliot's casual tone. Elliot shrugged and walked away, she sighed pressing her fists against her head.

"You alright?" Korkie asked,

"I think I'm gonna have a bruise on my arm from where my... Nana? I think it was, she shot me. My family gets crazier and crazier by the minute."

"And here I thought we'd actually get to spend some time together," he teased, nudging her with his elbow, she snorted,

"Yeah, that would be nice." she said, "I've got training later today, and I haven't written up a bunch of reports that Admiral Block has been riding my tail about."

"Think you could get away later, I know some great places to eat," she grinned,

"I'll do my best, give me two hours. The reports can wait a little while longer, I am the fastest woman alive," She teased,

**Two hours later…**

Esinon and Korkie strolled through the upper levels of Coruscant, her eyes constantly shifting around the bustle of people.

"Are you going to relax, or are you going to stay in Jedi mode the entire time?" he asked after a while.

"Oh, sorry," she mumbled, trying to release the tension in her shoulders.

"It's alright," he replied, she didn't talk about her time on the field with Korkie. She didn't want to burden the prince with her own problems of war. "Something on your mind?"

"I guess so," Esinon replied, as a group of school children walked past them. "Family, war, training. It's not often I get to breathe, I'm not used to not having to be on edge."

"I get it," he said, she turned her head in surprise,

"You do?"

"Not to the degree that you do, but the threat of Death Watch is always present. There was an attack recently, I was a little closer to the blast than I'd like to admit," he said, Esinon's stomach dropped,

"Are you alright?" she asked tentatively, he nodded,

"I wasn't injured, just surprised," he explained, she nodded slowly, instinctively sliding closer to him. "Alright, we're here." She looked up at the small shop they had stopped upon, it was an ice cream shop. "Thought you'd be sick of war rations," he said, pulling the door open for her. She gave a nod of thanks before entering, she scanned along the rows of ice cream flavors. When Korkie said he wanted to spend more time with her, this isn't exactly what she had envisioned. She had more envisioned sitting in the Scipian pod and talking for a while until they inevitably had to seperate. They quickly got food and returned to the streets,

"Anything exciting happening on Mandalore?" she asked as they walked,

"Not really, school, diplomats, more school." he said, "Food shortage hasn't been as bad since we arrested Almec."

"That's good, I definitely heard about it from Obi-Wan after our little escapade." she said, "No more overthrowing the government without my help," she added in a terrible impression of her Master. At least her's sounded better than Rex's.

"I didn't think we'd be overthrowing corrupt governments period," Korkie said,

"I would like to say that it was you who went hunting. I was a good padawan,"

"Until you tailed me,"

"Up until that point I was so well behaved. " she said, "and that's on you," he rolled his eyes,

"You have to have fun sometimes," he teased, she scoffed,

"Overthrowing governments isn't exactly what I'd call fun," she replied, remembering the stomach ache she had from all the nerves of locking Korkie in prison. She gave a nod to the Coruscant guard that was passing by,

"Well is this more fun?" he asked, motioning to their ice cream and the bustling streets. She nodded,

"Nice to get to relax for once, and spend some time with-" she cut herself off, she didn't know if she wanted to reveal that Korkie was her only friend outside the temple and barracks.

"With what?" he asked,

"Nothing," she muttered, he elbowed her with a teasing grin on his face,

"Come on," he prodded, she good-naturedly pushed him, "Come on, I know you wanna tell me."

"Fine," she conceded, "I don't have many friends outside the temple or the clone barracks," she mumbled, she'd expected him to tease her endlessly but instead he threw an arm around her shoulders.

"Glad you liked me enough to keep me around," he joked,

"That's not what I meant, you're my first non-Jedi, non-clone friend," she explained,

"I guess I got pretty lucky you walked past my tree," he replied, never moving his arm from around her shoulders.

"Korkie, I'm the lucky one, your holo-calls keep me sane,"

"How about we call it even and say we're both lucky to have found one another,"

"Deal," she said, she froze mid-step as her mind warped into a memory.

* * *

She was standing in Padme's office, except there was a lot of yelling, and the distant wail of sirens which immediately set Esinon on edge.

"Ono! It's his heart! Get help!" Padme cried, Esinon's eyes finally zeroed in on the still Rodian in Padme's lap. Esinon's heart-beat increased tenfold. He was dead.

* * *

"Esinon! Esinon can you hear me?" She snapped harshly back to reality as Korkie shook her,

"We gotta go," Esinon said, the image of Ono burned into her mind, "How do you feel about running?"

**That night, the Senate building…**

Esinon folded her arms over her chest as she watched the Senate meeting. Senator Onacando Farr had been murdered by his student Lolo, no less. Then Senator Deechi, and then almost Senator Burtoni.

This war had driven people to do things they never would have, Esinon knew she would miss Uncle Ono as Padme had called him.

He was a good friend of her father's and he had been taking the loss hard. She had spent the day with him, which meant also being with her cousin, her aunt, and her crazy Nana.

They all seemed alright, and Elliot was pretty cool once she got to know him. They had even exchanged contact information for when he returned to Scipio. Esinon snapped back to reality at the booming voice of Palpatine.

"With the final votes tallied, let it be known that the motion to stop the creation of more clones troops has failed," he announced, Esinon's heart dropped as her father sunk down in his chair. "The continued manufacturing of clone troopers shall proceed as scheduled." The room erupted in applause, _keep the war going, keep the war going. _

"If only they could see you as real people," she muttered to herself.

**A few months later…**

Master Piel had been captured. Esinon couldn't believe it. The battle-hardened Master who had taught her how to hold her lightsaber correctly had been captured and taken to the citadel.

Luckily his padawan, Jayla, Esinon believed her name was, had been at the temple when her Master had been captured. Another thing that was weighing heavily on her mind at the moment was the fact that Fives and Echo were going to the citadel which meant certain death, and she couldn't be there to protect them.

Master Kenobi wasn't letting her go, and she knew it was for a good reason. Most missions had lessons she could learn, the citadel wasn't a place for learning. You either do or you die.

She was debating back and forth about possibly sneaking on the mission, but in the end, she knew she couldn't defy her Master. Not again. At the moment she was busy reprogramming three Separatist droids for the mission. She grabbed the droid pulling it away from Ahsoka's boot as she attempted to kick it,

"Soka! Take your anger out on something else, I need these droids," Esinon snapped, Ahsoka growled,

"This isn't fair!"

"That I won't let you kick Roger?" Esinon asked, her fingers flying over her keyboard.

"What? No," Ahsoka grumbled, plopping down next to her, "Master Skywalker won't let me come on the mission to rescue Master Piel."

"I'm not allowed to go either, Ahsoka." Esinon replied, closing up the panel on Roger's head, "Citadel is do or die,"

"He's being overprotective and you know it." Ahsoka snapped,

"He's not Ahsoka. He's being rational, unlike you at the moment." she retorted,

"He's always picking and choosing,"

"Maybe, but this reason he has a good and valid reason to not let you go. The Citadel is no place for padawans."

"You sound just like-"

"AHHHHHH!" Roger screamed as his processing unit came back online. "JEDI!" Esinon jumped to her feet as the droid began to sprint across the hanger,

"Rodger!" she yelled, chasing after the droid, "RODGER! Get back here you useless bucket of bolts!" She finally tackled the droid flicking the switch, and Roger shut down. "Stupid droids," she muttered, she grabbed Roger's foot and dragged him back to the other two. She sighed heavily as she reopened Roger's panel and set back to work. Ahsoka was already gone by the time she returned.

"Hiya Taz!" Esinon jumped three feet in the air and almost socked Fives in the face,

"Don't do that!" she shouted, as Fives sat down next to her.

"Sorry," he replied, she could tell he wasn't sorry by the stupid grin on his face.

"Whatcha workin' on?" Echo asked, peering down at the Separatist battle droids before him.

"Roger's processing unit keeps fritzing out, he can still recognize Jedi and clones, and still sees them as the enemy," she explained,

"Hang on, Roger?" Fives teased,

"Yep, meet Roger," she motioned to the droid in her lap, "Annoyance, and Difficulty," she motioned to the other two droids.

"You named them?" Echo asked,

"Yeah, don't like the number thing," she replied, she'd given her own astromech a name. It made everyone easier to keep track of, Echo hummed thoughtfully as he peered over Esinon's shoulder. With her brothers at her side, her emotions began to stir. She'd had problems with anxiety ever since she was young, sure everybody has anxiety, but her's was more difficult to deal with, and her thoughts often tended to wander. She noticed Fives flinch, almost as if he could sense her emotions… then a thought ripped through her mind. When Jedi give people blood transfusions, they not only give blood, they give midichlorians. Had she inadvertently made Fives force-sensitive? She began to panic and noticed that Fives began getting antsy as well, she quickly calmed herself. She couldn't distract him from the upcoming mission. Esinon quickly busied herself with Roger's processing unit, a few seconds later she thought that that would do it. "Alrighty Roger, let's try this one last time." She flicked the button on the droid and it sprang to life. Roger saluted her,

"Awaiting orders Commander," he said, and then glanced between the clones.

"Alright Roger, let's go meet your Commander for the mission," she said, clicking Difficulty and Annoyance on as well. She was about to go find R2 when Fives grabbed her arm,

"We'll be alright, you know that right?" Fives asked, she nodded smiling.

"I know," she could tell Fives could sense her worry anyways. The ARC pulled her into a hug, they were quickly joined by Echo. "Please be safe, and come back quickly. Fives, don't do anything stupid."

"Wow, such trust," Fives joked,

"I know Echo won't do something rash and stupid." She teased, pulling away and smiling up at her brothers. And with that she set off to find R2, nervously eyeing the carbon freezing machine, she wasn't confident about how safe that was. Yet her Masters, and brothers were going in it anyway. She'd done her job for the mission, a very important one at that, she'd even decked the droids out in 501st blue. She wanted to use orange, but there wasn't any orange paint readily available. She quickly found the little astromech,

"Hi R2, I brought your troops," she said, crouching down to get eye level with the droid.

"Really?" he asked excitedly looking up at the blue seppie droids,

"Awaiting your orders Commander," Roger said, saluting R2.

"Move out!" R2 commanded before rolling away proudly with Roger, Annoyance, and Difficulty in tow. She smiled softly as she watched the droids move on to their mission, her stomach flipped again. She really was trying not to think about anything associated with the Citadel, but it was getting increasingly harder as the team's departure drew closer and closer.

"Esinon," Obi-Wan came up behind her, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Yes Master?" she asked cheerily, shoving her growing dread into her partially formed ARC box.

"It's alright to be afraid, but remember your training. Acknowledge it and let it go," he said, keeping his voice low. She clasped Qui-Gon's crystal and nodded. _Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering._ She wasn't supposed to be attached, but deep down she knew she was. She loved everyone around her, she felt so strong when she was around people she cared about.

"Just come back, please? And bring everyone with you," she said, he nodded. She knew he wouldn't promise, because he couldn't.

"It's time for me to go," he said, she looked down at her boots for a moment.

"May the force be with you Master," she said,

"And with you, padawan mine." And with that, the team went in carbon freezing and left. She watched the shuttle leave, a sizable pit settling into her stomach. Her comlink buzzed,

"Windcaster," She answered, still staring at where the shuttle had just been.

"Padawan Windcaster, can you come to the briefing room please?" Master Windu asked,

"Of course," she said, shaking herself from her stupor, and ended the transmission.

"They'll be alright Esinon," Master Plo said, sensing her anxiety.

"I hope so Master Plo, I really hope so," she replied, speeding off to the briefing room. She entered to find Master Windu, Master Yoda, and Commander Neyo standing around the holo-table.

"Hello Esinon," Master Windu greeted, she gave a bow of respect to the Masters.

"Hello Master Windu, Master Yoda, Commander Neyo," she said,

"We have a mission for you," Master Windu said, Esinon nodded, shoving the Citadel mission out of her mind for the time being.

"Aware of your ARC training, we are,"

"I can explain," she said hurriedly, she was afraid that they were here to call her out on not sticking to her traditional training regiment.

"Commander Neyo has been watching your progress." Master Windu said, nodding towards the clone. So that explained why he seemed overly interested in her training, "He said you passed your test with flying colors."

"Very impressive," Neyo remarked, Esinon paused, so she wasn't in trouble?

"Indeed, because of your specialized training, we have a mission for you. I trust that you're familiar with the bill to defeat the troop increase,"

"Yes, my father was one of the leading members," she replied,

"Since the bill was defeated, the number of troopers had increased on Kamino. An ARC trooper who normally trains squadrons has been called away on a special assignment." Master Windu explained,

"Take his place you will complete two squadron's training you will," Master Yoda said,

"Me?" Esinon asked, "I- I don't know if I'm qualified for that."

"You're more than qualified Commander," Neyo said, "You're an unofficial ARC trooper, and spend time with the men. You know them, how they think. A group of shinies will be nothing for you."

"Commander Neyo is right, you have the full confidence of the council." Master Windu assured,

"Leave tomorrow morning, you will." Master Yoda said, "Master Ti, your arrival, she waits for." Esinon nodded,

"Thank you, Masters, Commander, I'll be on my way to pack my things," she said, bowing to them and leaving for her apartment. She was planning to inform Ahsoka that she was leaving and would be alone in the apartment for the time being. She dropped her keys in the bowl, "Soka!" No response and Esinon couldn't sense her friend anywhere. "Ahsoka?" She hadn't seen the togruta since the hanger, she'd been pretty mad… Ahsoka wouldn't… she would. Ahsoka would have completely snuck on that mission, Esinon ran out of the apartment down the hall towards Xavier's, she knocked on the door anxiously waiting. If anyone would have seen Ahsoka before she disappeared, it would have been Master Plo. Master Luminara answered the door,

"Hello Esinon, if you're looking for Xavier and Barriss, they went to the training dojo."

"Is Master Plo here?" she asked hurriedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Plo," Master Luminara called, "Esinon wants to see you," The Kel Dor soon appeared at the door.

"Esinon, what's wrong?" he asked, immediately sensing her worry,

"Have you seen Ahsoka? I last saw her in the hanger before the team for the Citadel left, but now I can't find her. She was upset that Master Skywalker wasn't letting her go, and I'm afraid she may have taken matters into her own hands."

"That is up to Ahsoka now," Master Plo said calmly, she didn't understand how he could be so calm. Probably why he was a Master and she was a padawan.

"But Master Plo, what if she snuck on the mission?"

"Then there is nothing we can do now," he replied, Esinon sighed in exasperation.

"But Master-"

"Don't you have a mission yourself?" he asked, Esinon nodded, "Trust in the force, little Soka can take care of herself."

"Ok,"

**That night…**

Esinon leaned against the balcony of her father's apartment enjoying the glistening Coruscanti skyline. She'd decided to spend the night at her father's apartment because her apartment was empty anyways.

_Click,_

Esinon glanced around looking for the source of the noise. It sounded again, except this time she saw a rock saw bounce off the balcony. She looked down to see a bouncy ginger below her.

"Korkie?" she whispered shouted, he waved his arms,

"You fancy going for a stroll?" he called up quietly, making the exaggerated motion of walking in place, grinning stupidly up at her. She laughed, dropping her head to the balcony,

"You're such a dork!" she teased, careful not to shout, if she woke Thea up, her dad would have her head.

"Takes one to know one sweetheart!" he fired back, she blushed,

"One second, I gotta tell my dad." she disappeared from the balcony to find her dad, she found him sitting at the kitchen table with a scattering of flimsi and datapads. "Dad, I'm gonna go out for a little bit. Is that ok?"

"Yeah, anybody tries to attack you, introduce them to the business end of your lightsaber," he said, smiling up at her, she nodded before darting back to the balcony and jumping down to meet Korkie. He didn't react this time to seeing her do something death-defying, he was used to it at this point. She could do frivolous things with the force and he wouldn't bat an eye. He made her feel like it was completely normal to be a Jedi like everyone had these extraordinary abilities. He tossed her a cloak,

"Here put this on," he said, she glanced from the cloak to him and back again before putting it on.

"Where are we going?" she asked, as he grabbed her hand and led her forward.

"It's a surprise,"

"I hate surprises," she grumbled, he grinned cockily at her,

"I know," she rolled her eyes good-naturedly,

"I hate you," he flashed another smile,

"That's only a few steps away from admitting your undying love for me," he pressed a hand to his chest, Esinon was glad for the darkness of the night for a moment so Korkie couldn't see how red her face was getting.

"You are quite the flirt, your highness," she said as the two of them were now sprinting through the Coruscant streets, for no other reason than being exhilarated to be with one another. After a few more minutes of running, they arrived at a small garden, filled with people dancing under patio lights. There was laughter and food, and the force drifted in calming waves, setting Esinon instantly at peace. Her fingers relaxed in Korkie's hand,

"I heard about this place from my aunt," he said, he stepped in front of her, "may I have this dance?" She smiled softly at him before taking his hand. He swept her up in a dance, gripping her hand gently with his right and guided her with his left. She was busy staring at her feet, trying not to step on Korkie's. "You can relax, I think you're light enough on your feet that you won't step on mine." She smiled sheepishly up at him,

"Well don't complain when I inevitably mess up," she joked, Korkie smirked, "So this is what Princes do for fun?"

"Well, we can go somewhere else-"

"No, this is nice," she said, "Better than sitting in my apartment alone," they continued to sway to the music for a while until it got too late, and Esinon needed to fly to Kamino tomorrow morning so she needed to sleep. They started on their way back to Daniel's apartment, "You look more tired than I do," Esinon remarked, as Korkie was leaning heavily upon her. Not that she minded.

"Guess my circadian rhythm works better than yours," he muttered, smiling at her, he was impossibly adorable sometimes. The force shuddered for a moment, she perked up looking around. Something was coming,

"Come on Korkie, we've got to hurry," she said, pulling the man along a little faster, quickening her pace.

"What's wrong?" Korkie asked, immediately picking up on her urgency.

"Something's coming," the force shuddered again and another pair of footsteps were added to the mix of the two teenagers. Esinon was breaking into a full-on sprint now with Korkie right behind her, she heard a blaster click, "GET DOWN!" she yelled, drawing her lightsaber and deflecting the bolts. She could see a figure prowling in the darkness, they started to circle one another. It was unlucky that the one part of Coruscant's upper level they had stumbled upon wasn't such a great neighborhood.

The bounty hunters lunged for her, managing to knock her lightsaber out of her hand. She grappled with the significantly larger being as she pushed the blaster from her heart and over her shoulder.

She attempted to bend the blaster out of his hand, but he fired and a pained grunt echoed behind her. "Korkie!" she cried, watching her friend fly into an alleyway.

She kneed her attacker in the groin, sending him crumpling. She called her lightsaber into her hand and bashed the assailant over the head knocking him out cold. "Korkie! Korkie!" she shouted, rushing into the alleyway, searching for a head of auburn hair. "Korkie please answer me!" she shouted with more and more panicked as the seconds passed.

"Quit yelling," a voice mumbled from behind some crates,

"Korkie," she breathed, she pushed the crates out the way to find her friend propped up against the wall, his hand pressed over his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"It's not bleeding," he grimaced, he glanced up at her as she tried to pull his hand away from the wound, "Did I really scare you that bad?" Esinon hadn't even registered that she was crying until Korkie reached up with his opposite hand to wipe the tears away. She opened her mouth to say something but became too flustered, she then decided to focus on his shot wound and then remembered the unconscious man outside the alleyway. She pressed her comlink and began assessing how bad Korkie's wound was,

"Fox, I'm sending you my coordinates now. Korkie and I were ambushed. The assailant is unconscious, but Korkie was shot. It doesn't look too bad, but bring a medic anyway." she instructed, sending Fox her coordinates.

"I don't need a medic," Korkie mumbled, she barely tapped the wound and he scrunched his eyes shut, as a fresh wave of pain washed over him.

"Sure you don't," she said,

"We're on our way Commander, stay put if you can," Fox said,

"Got it," she turned off her comlink, she let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding in.

"I'm ok, you know that right?" Korkie said, searching her eyes,

"Your Aunt's gonna kill me," she mumbled,

"Correction, she's gonna kill me," he replied the familiar grin that she loved so much returning to his face. "But you're worth it," her gaze fell to her lap as she smiled, "And if you won't give me a hug after I might have to friend hunting elsewhere." he gently teased, she rolled her eyes. She scooted closer to him, enveloping him in a hug. She shifted carefully around his wound, burying her head in his shoulder. "See? It's all ok," he whispered, rubbing her back gently. Leave it to Korkie to be injured and still worried about Esinon's triggers with the war. "It's not as bad as it looks," she shuddered, shuffling a little closer to him. She felt Korkie rest his chin on her shoulder, pulling her a little closer.

"Next time you come to visit, we're staying in and watching a movie," she mumbled. Korkie chuckled,

"We can watch Princess Bride," he replied, "And you can quote every line."

"You remembered," she said, smiling softly.

"Course I did,"

"Just to prove myself your favorite movie is Little Women. You're such a romantic sap,"

"You're lucky I shared that information with you," they finally parted

"Is that why you threw rocks at the balcony, you wanted to become a real Prince?"

"I am a real Prince," he retorted,

"You sure don't act like it sometimes," she replied, now smiling at her friend. He rolled his eyes good-naturedly,

"At least I'm better than Prince Humperdinck," he said,

"That's one step up from being a nerf-herder,"

"But an important step," he replied, wagging a finger in her face and tapping her nose. The Coruscant guard arrived moments later, and Esinon shifted away from Korkie to let Spark tend to the wound. She stood up to meet Fox,

"Are you alright sir?" he asked, searching her for injuries. She glanced back at Korkie who was talking with Spark,

"Yeah, I'm ok. Has the Duchess been notified?" she asked,

"Yes, and so has General Fisto. He said he's standing in as your surrogate Master until General Kenobi returns. They're both going to meet us at the Coruscant hospital." She groaned,

"Master Fisto's going to go all dad-mode on me," she grumbled, Fox ruffled her hair.

"Good luck with that bouncer," she frowned up at him. "Will you interrogate that man as soon as possible? I want to make sure that the Duchess and Ko- the Prince aren't in any further danger."

"Yes sir," he replied, "We'll make sure everything's ok," Esinon nodded, Spark was helping Korkie up and they all loaded into the gunship. She grabbed his hand, letting him squeezing a little tighter every time a fresh wave of pain came over him.

**A few minutes later…**

"Esinon, are you alright?" Master Fisto asked, searching her for injury before pulling her into a bear hug.

"I'm fine," she mumbled into his robes, she acted like she didn't like it when Master Fisto overreacted, but she liked knowing someone cared.

"You better be my little danger magnet," he said, finally releasing her, "What were you even doing out?"

"Korkie and I were going for a walk and we got jumped. Fox said he would-" her comlink buzzed with a familiar frequency, "Speak of the devil, that was fast Fox, who is he?"

"Far as I can tell he was simply a guy who was sick of the war, made that very apparent to us," Fox said, she could hear the anger radiating in his normally calm voice. She felt anger rise up in her as well, she quickly calmed herself when she noticed that her fist had started sparkling with electricity.

"I'm so sorry Fox," she said,

"Eh, it's alright bouncer, this guy is a one and done. The Duchess and Prince aren't in any further danger from this guy," he said,

"Thank you," she ended the transmission, she looked up to see Satine exiting from the room where Korkie was being treated. Esinon walked up to her, "Duchess I am-"

"Thank you Esinon," she said, "You saved my nephew's life, I can't tell you how much I appreciate this."

"Uh…" Esinon stood there a little shell shocked, "you're welcome, Duchess,"

"Now, my nephew is asking for you, so I suggest you go see him," she said, turning to talk to Master Fisto instead. Esinon nodded before heading into the hospital room, Korkie was pulling a shirt over his head, ruffling his auburn hair. She was really glad it wasn't worse, he could be hooked up to too many machines to count.

"How are you feeling?" she asked,

"Good as new," he replied happily,

"I would suggest that you come over to watch Little Women tomorrow night to make up for dragging you into the war following me around, but I leave for Kamino tomorrow morning," she said, coming and sitting down on the bed next to him.

"Eh, we can watch next time I come for a visit," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders pulling her closer. "And we can cry the whole time together. And then I can listen to you complain about how Jo and Laurie don't end up together." he teased,

"They blew a hole in my ship," she grumbled, "And if the whole point she wasn't going to marry anyone and then she marries the twi'lek she barely knows- what?" she glanced up at Korkie who was giggling,

"And you say I'm a romantic sap," he said, elbowing her,

"You threw rocks at my balcony!' she protested, a grin spreading across her face.

"You keep bringing it up, means you liked it," she shoved his face,

"You goofball," the two of them continued to talk and laugh, simply enjoying being with one another.

**The next morning, Tipoca City, Kamino…**

Esinon hopped out of her fighter, removing her hood from her head. Master Shaak Ti and Bric, and an ARC trooper were waiting for her,

"Padawan Windcaster, it is good to see you." Master Ti said, Esinon bowed,

"It is good to see you as well Master Ti,"

"Commander," Bric said,

"Hello Bric, it's nice to see you,"

"We appreciate you coming all the way out here to help us. With the increase of clones we are having a hard time keeping up with their training." Bric explained,

"And with that, Bric and I must immediately return to our duties." Master Ti said, "Since you've only been to Kamino for a battle, Commander Bear is going to give you a tour, and take you to meet your new squads." The ARC trooper gave a nod, Esinon bowed to Master Ti and Bric before following after Commander Bear. After a few minutes of silence, she finally spoke up,

"So, how long have you been an ARC trooper?" she asked, he glanced down at her.

"About a year after the war began," he answered curtly,

"Post battle of Kamino?" she asked, which had been three years ago for her. She was now sixteen, Bear nodded sharply. Geez, he was more stoic than when she first met Gregor. She still missed him, she got lost in memories for a moment until Bear suddenly stopped in front of a door.

"This is the mess hall for the troopers on this floor. Your squads are two floors up, so you won't need to bother coming down here."

"But what if I want to come down here to see other squads?" she asked, peeking her head inside the mess hall and waving to a few cadets who caught her eye. Bear paused at the question before answering,

"I suppose you can come down here if you want, come on, there's more to see." She followed the ARC, finally taking some time to study his armor as they walked. He had a large bear paw print on the front of his chest, and his armor was red. Like Colt's, she involuntarily flinched. That was her first real, tangible experience with death as a padawan. She knew that troopers died in battle, but she'd never been there to see their cold bodies. Master Kenobi had always kept her sheltered from that sort of thing in her first few years as a padawan. It all changed after Sarrish, her outlook on the galaxy changed. She was torn from her memories of Colt as a group of young cadets like the ones from the Endurance passed. She waved to them, "This is the firing range for the youngest cadets," Bear said, motioning to a room off to the right. They continued down the halls, they passed another room where young cadets were sitting,

"We have cushions like that in the temple," she thought out loud,

"Well we all seek comfort as children whilst growing up to be a soldier," Bear said, Esinon decided not to correct him about her not being a soldier.

"It's a lot like the temple here," she said, studying the white walls, just add some natural light, tone down the smell of anesthetics, and some columns and you'd have the Jedi temple.

"You've got birthing chambers too?" he asked, motioning to the towers of pods that lined a room off to the right. Esinon stopped dead in her tracks as she marveled at the thousands of tiny baby clone troopers that lined the room. She couldn't believe that Cody or Rex had once been a little baby. It made sense logically, but she always knew them as her big brothers.

"How many are in there?" she asked, pressing her hands against the window.

"Too many to count," Bear replied, Esinon frowned,

"But the Kaminoans can count them just fine," she mumbled, remembering the look that her troopers had gotten when Master Krell called them by their numbers. She hated it, she just hated it. "So what else?"

"Right, this way," Bear said, they entered a turbo-lift going up two floors. She assumed that's where her new squads were waiting,

"Who trained these squads before?" she asked, bouncing impatiently on the balls of her feet.

"Commander Callum," Bear replied,

"And… what's he like?" she asked, trying to push Bear into opening up a little more.

"Strict, but he's a good soldier, a good brother." Bear said, she assumed that Callum and Bear were close. She hoped that he wasn't mad, or blamed her for Callum having to leave on a mission. Well, it wasn't her fault, because she didn't even know what the mission was, or who Callum was up till a few seconds ago.

"Do most of the cadets have names?" she asked,

"Most of them, why?"

"Uh… I don't like the number thing," she explained, Bear glanced at her. He finally pulled off his helmet, he had a stripe tattoo running over his left eye. His haircut was pretty standard except he had lines shaved on either side of his head.

"We're here," he said, motioning to a door. Esinon could already sense the ten cadets on the other side. "Dinner is at six, I'll be back before dinner to show you to your quarters." She nodded,

"Thank you, Commander," he nodded, placing his helmet on his head and leaving. Esinon took a deep breath, she'd dealt with shinies before, she could do this. She palmed open the door and stepped inside, the shinies immediately snapped to attention, she put on a brave face. "Hello, I am Commander Esinon Windcaster and I'll be taking over for Commander Callum until he returns. How about we start with names," she said, none of the cadets moved, she realized that she needed to approach them, not the other way around. She approached the first squad, and looked expectantly up at him,

"I'm Rainstorm, this is Zoom," he said, motioning the trooper next to him. She could already sense the deep bond between them,

"I'm Bean sir, and this is Push," the trooper on the other side of Rainstorm said, Esinon looked up at the last trooper.

"I, as of yet, don't have a name. I'm CT- 8908,"

"We'll work on that," Esinon said, she moved onto the next squad,

"I'm Sharkbait, this is Dogma, and Tup," the first one said, motioning to troopers on his left and right.

"We don't have names," the trooper said, motioning to the pair of them. "I'm CT-4746, and he's CT- 3975."

"Nice to meet all of you," she said, "I thought we could start by running a training simulation, might be one you haven't seen before because I thought we could use a mission that I've been on before. Helps keep the variables controlled." She jumped up into the control booth, "Grab your weapons, and take starting positions." She set to programming the holographic program, she thought the Blue Shadow Virus, before the virus hit would be a good simulation. She would save variables like gutaarks on Ryloth for after they read the manuals regarding how to deal with animals.

* * *

Tup watched as the hologram technology morphed into an underground tunnel full of rubble, and a hole in the roof. A hologram of Commander Windcaster appeared in front of them,

"This is a simulation of the blue shadow virus incident three years ago. Dr. Vindi is about to release the blue shadow virus creating a galaxy-wide pandemic on all Republic systems. I've placed you where I would have entered, you've just dropped down out of the gunships and droids are about to come running around that corner," Tup looked to the left of the hologram and sure enough, he could hear the tapping of droid feet. "Neutralize the threat," Her hologram disappeared just as B1 training droids came running around the corner.

"Split up!" Sharkbait commanded, and the two squads obeyed, CT-8908's Z-6 raring. Dogma's head whipped around at the rumble of destroyers. Sharkbait tackled Dogma behind some rubble. Both Bean and Rainstorm were immediately hit with holographic blaster bolts from the destroyers, and their weapons were deactivated. CT-8908 glanced up at the ceiling,

"Shoot the ceiling! It'll crush the droids, I think," he said,

"Worth a shot," Push replied, still working with Tup, Zoom, CT-4746 and CT- 3975 on the B1 battle droids. Sharkbait and CT-8908 leveled their blasters with the ceiling and fired. The ceiling came crashing down on top of the destroyers vanquishing them, while the rest of the B1s had been taken care of by the others.

"Update," Commander Windcaster's hologram appeared sprinting with them through the base, "General Kenobi has entered the base along with General Skywalker. Kenobi is headed to deactivate the bombs, your job is to keep the droids busy." She disappeared as B2s and B1s came running around the corner,

"Take cover!" CT-8908 yelled, providing cover fire for the rest of them as his Z-6 let out a splay of plasma bolts. The only problem was, as he got hit with a bolt and his weapon deactivated. CT-4746 and CT-3975 were down next. Now the ones who were left were Sharkbait, Tup, Dogma, Zoom, and Push. After a bit of fighting and narrowly getting hit, they had destroyed the droids and Commander Windcaster appeared again.

"We've got a missing bomb, and trigger happy mad doctor on the loose. Doctor Vindi gave a droid a bomb, find it," she commanded and disappeared.

"We can't split up," Push said, "There are too few of us,"

"Well we don't have a choice," Sharkbait shot back, "We've got to find that droid or we'll all be as good as dead."

"We'll be dead anyway if we split up. There are too few of us and to many droids," Tup snapped,

"Guys! Look out!" Zoom shouted laser fire rained down upon them, taking out Push, Zoom, and Dogma. All of their weapons deactivated.

"Guess it's just us!" Tup shouted, firing at the droids, he and Sharkbait ducked behind some debris trying to take out the mass of droids that were converging on their position. A loud explosion sounded and tendrils of cobalt mist came racing towards them,

"That's not good," Sharkbait murmured,

"Simulation end," a robotic voice said, the holographic walls dissipated, the terrifying monster of the blue shadow virus was gone, and they were back in the training room. Commander Windcaster jumped down from the control pod,

"Good work everybody," she said,

"What?" Sharkbait asked in shock, they had failed the mission. Dogma shot Sharkbait a look, "We failed our mission,"

"Yeah, I was infected by that same virus. You made it pretty far considering how few of you there were," She praised,

"You were infected by that?" CT-8908 asked, even though he had been taken out, he'd seen that monster of a mist. Commander Windcaster nodded,

"Granted we had arrested Doctor Vindi first," she said, "Still, you probably won't ever encounter the blue shadow virus in the field, unless Doctor Vindi gets loose and recreates it which seems pretty unlikely. Also, you," she pointed at CT-8908, "Is it alright if I call you Anchor?"

"Of course sir," CT-8908 wasn't going to argue with a superior, and he liked the name Anchor anyways,

"It's because that's what you are for your squad," she said, "For you," she motioned to Sharkbait, "For your squad, your guys' homework get these two names because I'm not doing the number thing. Now there were a couple things I noticed, Sharkbait and Anchor you guys seem to be the chosen leaders of your squad. It's always good to have a chosen leader within a squad. I've seen it save lives. There is one important thing I noticed, you guys argue a lot. Sometimes you need to listen to your squad leader, in a pinch you oftentimes need to just listen to what your leader says. As you can tell, not listening could cost you your life."

"Commander Windcaster is right," Bear entered the room and all the cadets snapped to attention,

"Hello Bear," she greeted, waving happily at the ARC trooper. She glanced up at the clock seeing it was almost six, "Oh shoot, lost track of time. I am quite spacey sometimes, Cody usually keeps me on track." She turned back to her squads, "Abbreviated version of my speech, listen to your leaders in a pinch, but don't be afraid to voice your opinion because it can also save your life. Break for dinner, I'll see you all in a few minutes."

"Sir!" They all saluted her and fell out, leaving her and Bear alone.

"Your quarters are right this way Commander," he said, she followed after the ARC a ways down the hallway, past the multiple training rooms, and barracks to a secluded section, "These are your quarters, dinner will be brought up to you in the next five minutes"

"Wait, I eat dinner here?" she asked,

"Yes, superiors normally eat dinner in their quarters," Bear said, matter of factly,

"That sounds… lonely," she muttered, "Do you usually eat in your quarters?" Bear nodded, "What if I wanted to eat with my squads? Get to know them better,"

"I suppose you can do whatever you want, but it would be highly irregular," Bear said,

"Would you… come with me?" she asked hopefully,

"It might make the men uncomfortable," he said slowly,

"Well that'll be a problem if they get assigned to me," she said, placing her hands on her hips. Bear could see it in the look in her eyes that she had already claimed those men for her battalion. "And besides I won't know what training they've had from Callum until I talk with them. Come on Bear, please,"

"Fine, but only to say I told you so," he said, she did a happy little bounce on her toes.

"Come on, before the food gets cold." she said bounding ahead, she stopped suddenly, "It just occurred to me that I have no idea where the mess hall is,"

"This way Commander," Bear said, sometimes he forgot how young the girl in front of him actually was.

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon plopped down in her seat next to Dogma, scaring the poor cadet.

"Hi Dogma," she greeted,

"Sir," He began to stand up to salute her but she quickly waved him down.

"It's alright, we're only eating after all," she said, Dogma slowly sat down,

"Sir?" he asked with a questioning look in his eyes, she could read him like a reg manual,

"Didn't want to eat in my quarters, Bear already went back to his," she said, motioning to the door with her fork. Tup and Sharkbait soon joined them, along with the final two members of their squad. "So how are we doing on the names?" she asked, glancing between the two troopers who as of yet, remained nameless.

"I think we've got some," Sharkbait said, "We're calling him Fidget," he motioned to the trooper to his right, "And we're calling him Cosmo,"

"Well it is very nice to meet you, Fidget, Cosmo," she said, both troopers nodded, soon her other squadron joined them. "So you guys got names for your squads? That's the way it works for my battalion and the 501st… anyways, you got squad names?"

"We're Theta," Anchor said,

"And we're Delta," Sharkbait supplied,

"We never got to name our clans, it was just clan A or B and so on, I tried to suggest we do so to Master Windu but that didn't go over so well." she joked, laughing to herself,

"You know General Windu?" Dogma asked, looking starstruck. Esinon nodded,

"He's the one who found me and brought me to the temple," they continued talking about anything the men would let her. She asked about Callum and what he did for training, but Dogma stayed quiet through all of it, still looking uncomfortable with his Commander sitting right next to him, "So Dogma, you have a favorite color?" she asked, nudging his elbow. He glanced up from his meal to look at her.

"I- uh, I like the color green or blue," he said quietly,

"Hmm, how do you feel about orange?" she asked, resting her chin on her hands.

"Now don't go getting too attached," Bear said, joining the young Commander.

"Awww Bear," she half-whined, "I see potential, 212th potential,"

"I came to get you because General Ti wishes to speak to you,"

**A few minutes later…**

"So how did your first day of training go?" Shaak asked,

"Good, Commander Callum did a great job! I'm sad that he couldn't finish training them, I'd like to meet him."

"Always the little spitfire, aren't we," Shaak murmured, she'd spoken with Bear earlier, and was already challenging some of the things that normally happened around Kamino. She wasn't responsible for actually training troops, she was more of an overseer and advisor. Esinon technically had all qualifications since she was an 'ARC trooper'. She had all the training, just not the kamas and pauldrons. Bear had voiced his concerns, many times, letting a child take over training when it had always been left up to the men, "Did Bear show you everything?"

"Mostly," she said, "Couple areas he told me were off-limits,"

"And for good reason," Shaak replied, one area that had been barred off to the young padawan was the detention area. Esinon didn't need what happened down there weighing on her mind. "You'd better get some rest, you've got a big day ahead of you."

"Master Ti?" Esinon asked, "Have there been any updates on the Citadel mission?" Shaak shook her head,

"No, but I will inform you as soon as one does come,"

"Thank you," Esinon said, bowing to the elder Jedi and setting off her quarters,

* * *

**Did I name Sharkbait, Sharkbait because I laugh every time while I think 'Sharkbait WHO HA HA' yes. yes, I did.**

**enjoy esinon and korkie being too cute **

**I know that we didn't see too much of Esinon's family that I introduced, but they'll come back later. She keeps in contact with them after they head back for Scipio. **

**Here we go on Kaminooooooo **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: Shaak Ti is super competitive and won't let you win at anything**

**Thanks for reading! Make sure to leave a review!**


	28. Daggers, Dogma, and Dehydration

**Two days later…**

"You gotta be faster than that!" Esinon shouted as Sharkbait tried to swing for her head but missed. Esinon was quick even without the use of her speed because that was part of being an ARC. All kinds of fancy footwork. Sharkbait was not changing his strategy as he was shoved further along the mat, he kept trying to jab anywhere, shoulders, head, elbows, abdomen, but Esinon was too fast. The problem also was, he was using only his arms, which left his legs very vulnerable.

She blocked blow after blow which surprised the cadet, he was slightly larger than his brothers and was used to winning. Now he was getting beaten by a girl who had to crane her neck to look up at him, "You got more than two limbs, use them!" She swept underneath his feet sending him to the ground, she circled him before stopping in front of his head waiting for him to get back up. "I've seen commando droids with more creativity," she chided, Sharkbait got mad at that, he grabbed her foot and yanked hard. Esinon yelped as she was sent roughly to the ground, Sharkbait jumped to his feet pinning her arms above her head, "More than two!" she shouted and proceeded to knee him in the diaphragm. Sharkbait panted, significantly winded, Esinon wriggled out from underneath his grasp.

She grabbed the back of his armor and threw him halfway across the room, did she use a little bit of the force? Yes, yes she did, but good troopers adapted. She really did not want to see Sharkbait tap the mat, but he did, signaling he was done.

She could sense anger and frustration radiating off him, he was ticked that he lost again. Something told her he was used to winning spars like this. She sighed frustratedly before walking over and helping him back to his feet, "Alright, who's next?"

"Don't you want a break, sir?" Bean asked, she already sparred six of them without stopping,

"Nope, I got four more, I've got this," she said, rolling out her tense shoulders as Dogma stepped forward. Poor trooper looked scared half to death, "Your move," Dogma held up his fists, at first they circled each other, but Esinon knew this isn't how it worked in the field, you punch first or you get a broken nose and Dogma needed to learn that. She lunged for his waist, successfully bringing him to ground. He struggled for a moment, trying to get his elbow underneath her stomach but she held fast. She saw his hand going to tap the mat, "Don't give up," she whispered, "I believe in you Dogma." She felt the fire ignite in Dogma's mind, but she also felt his elbow dig into her ribs.

She grunted as he shoved her off of him, gaining the upper hand.

He shoved her shoulders while she was distracted by her aching side. She rolled away just as Dogma was about to pin her, and lunged for his side, he bent his body in an awkward position causing Esinon to miss.

She caught herself and flipped to her feet as Dogma got to his as well.

He took quick jabs at her shoulders and abdomen, and learned from Sharkbait's mistakes, landing a few kicks. He tried to send another kick to her side, but she caught his leg. "You didn't think you could get me that easy, did you?" Dogma had a look of 'oh kriff' cross his face as Esinon threw him across the room. What amazed her, even more, is that he got back up, "That's ARC trooper material!" she cheered, charging him again. She hit Dogma's cuff guards, fighting with enthusiasm.

The young Commander was lighting up like a firecracker, and Dogma was actually smiling. A real genuine smile, his entire squad was staring agape. They had never seen Dogma like this, he was more of a loner and liked to read reg manuals more than hanging out with his squad. They were both moving fast now, dancing across the mats,

"Holy kriff," Sharkbait murmured, as Esinon ducked under Dogma's arm and shoved him in the back.

She was getting fierce now, she leapt onto Dogma's back but somehow he anticipated that and purposefully fell to the ground, pinning her underneath his weight. Normally Esinon would have headbutted Dogma or something, but this wasn't a real battle, it was a spar, and she didn't feel like having to go to the medbay for a concussion or broken nose.

She tapped the mat, accepting defeat with a huge smile on her face, Dogma rolled off of her,

"I… I didn't hurt you, did I?" he asked tentatively,

"Are you kidding me?!" Esinon exclaimed, "Dude! That was awesome!" she jumped to her feet. She did a happy little dance, "That's what I'm talking about Dogma, that's the kind of adaptability I expect from ARC troopers." Dogma couldn't help but let his chest puff with pride, he was being complimented by _the _Commander Blur. He had heard stories about her, running faster than the speed of sound, leading her men into battle, and she was complimenting _him_. This kind of stuff only happened in his dreams! "Did everyone see that?" All of the cadets nodded, "Alright, who thinks they can top that?" Sharkbait stared at the young Commander as she began to engage in battle with Tup, and she was moving fast, if not faster than she had a few seconds ago. Say what you want about the Jedi, he had to give props to the strength and stamina it gave their members. This was her eighth spar in a row, and she wasn't showing signs of slowing.

**A few days later…**

When a new face shows up on Kamino, it rarely goes unnoticed. Especially when the majority of the faces are the same. And when a new bouncy Jedi showed up, word traveled fast, especially when she's being chased around by Commander Bear half the time because she has a nose for trouble.

Most cadets had seen the Commander wandering around the facility, flanked by a red-clad ARC trooper as she explored and asked about a billion questions. She often visited the younglings, ate meals with the men, showed off some of her lightsaber skills, and made things float to entertain the littles.

Everyone had quickly grown fond of the firecracker of a Commander, no matter if there had been an increase in the number of pranks that happened around the cloning facility.

This morning, Esinon was running a little late. She'd had a really strange nightmare about Echo, spooked her enough that when she finally did fall back asleep, she slept straight through her alarm.

Now she was trying to get to training as fast as possible before Bear came to yell at her. It didn't occur to her to use her speed and whenever she did try to use it, incredibly painful images of Echo dying flashed through her mind, so she was doing it the old fashioned way and moving as fast as a human could. And she knew the dreams of Echo weren't memories, she would have been able to tell. It was just her own worry about her brother being at the Citadel. He would be fine, he was strong and smart, he'd come back.

She skidded around another corner and knew she was getting close but was immediately caught off guard by a lone youngling who was looking worriedly around the hallway.

"Hey, are you lost?" she asked, quickly forgetting her mission of getting to training somewhat on time. The youngling looked up at her, his shaggy black hair falling into his eyes, he looked close to tears.

"I… I lost my squad," he said, "I don't know where they went, we were supposed to go back to our barracks for some rest."

"Hey, it'll be ok," she said, "How about you come with me and you can watch my squads train for a while, and I'll call your Sargent to let him know you're alright. How does that sound?" The youngling nodded, "Ok," she picked him up, placing him on her hip, "Alright, let's go see your big brothers." She brushed his hair out of his face and started walking towards the training room. "What's your name little one?"

"I'm Racer," he said,

"It's nice to meet you Racer, I'm Esinon, who's your Sargent?"

"Eight sir," he said, she quickly called his Sargent, letting Eight know that Racer was ok. She opened the door to her squads,

"We were about to call Commander Bear because Dogma was about to have a panic attack," Sharkbait said, motioning towards his brother.

"I was not," Dogma protested,

"I got a little sidetracked," she said, motioning the youngling in her arms. Racer was tucking his head into her shoulder, shying away from his older brothers. "It's ok," she whispered, "They don't bite," Racer finally peeked his head to look at the squads, "Everyone this is Racer, he's going to be sitting in on our training session." She set him down, holding his little hand. "Alright, get blasters and we're starting target practice." The squads grabbed blaster off the wall while Esinon had Racer help her set up plastoid balls around the room. They stepped off to the side, "Hitting a still target is easy," she said, "Unfortunately most things you encounter on the battlefield will not hold still for you to shoot it." She closed her eyes and stretched out her hand, making one of the plastoid balls float, "Hit the target or you might get hit,"

She flicked her finger sending a ball careening towards Anchor. Cosmo fired taking out the ball, "Fan out, you get hit, you're dead." The troopers obeyed as all the balls floated in the air, Esinon's fingers tingling in anticipation of where she would move the balls next.

She flicked her finger sending a ball towards Dogma who quickly shot the ball She twitched sending three balls flying around the room in a random pattern all of them began firing and continually missing. Normally she would have attempted to coach them through this, but it was taking all of her concentration to keep her dream of Echo at bay and keep all the balls in the air.

She flicked her fingers and sent the balls forward in rapid succession taking out Sharkbait, Push, and Rainstorm. She lifted up four more balls sending the balls flying around the room, Anchor took out one, Zoom took out another but Esinon moved the next two balls faster and faster.

She sent them into Tup and Dogma. She flicked her fingers sending three more balls into the air, she attempted to take out Bean, but the cadet dove out of the way, rolling to his knee and firing taking out the plastoid ball. Two balls were left in the air, and she took out Zoom and Anchor leaving Fidget and Bean. Esinon flung the few balls left towards the cadets who were now standing back to back.

She brought all the remaining balls into the air, Fidget took out two and Bean took out another. She sent all the balls flying in at once and took the remaining cadets out. She stumbled out of her meditative trance, blinking a couple times. Racer tugged on her hand,

"Are you ok sir?" he asked,

"Yes Racer I'm ok," she said, ruffling the shaggy youngling's hair. "That was good everyone, we've got some work to do though. Sharkbait, Anchor set up the targets and we'll get to work." The two cadets nodded, and set to work, she motioned for Racer to stay on the sidelines while she grabbed a blaster off the wall and inspected it. "Alright, shooting something isn't about how many rounds you can fire, it's about how you can conserve. Sometimes during a siege, you won't get to resupply for days at a time and the only ammo you have is the ammo in your blaster. Conservation is key. Firing a blaster can be a lot like meditation, clear your mind of all other things." She took her mark, and closed her eyes and fired, hitting dead center.

"Whoa!" Racer cried, Esinon opened her eyes grinning,

"Bullseye," She blew the smoke of the barrel.

"How did you do that?" Bean exclaimed,

"She's a Jedi," Rainstorm said,

"No, it's because I can concentrate, if you quiet your mind, you'll be able to hit pretty much anything." She said, turning around and firing and hitting the target without looking. "Your guys' turn." She stepped out of the way and let the cadets take their mark, she turned up to a scoreboard. She typed a few things into her gauntlet, and all of their names appeared. "We'll move in rounds with the lowest scoring marksman being eliminated after each round. You'll fire ten shots, we'll stop at the top three scorers. Remember you can do anything if you quiet your mind and concentrate." She waved Racer over to her, "Go!" she shouted, they all fired with Bean taking the lead.

After the first round, Zoom was eliminated, with Bean in the lead and Cosmo hanging on by a thread. The rounds passed in quick succession, Bean, Fidget, and Sharkbait all grappling for the top spot. Push panicked after the first few shots and was quickly eliminated. She was already trying to think of a way that she could get some time for one on one training with each of the men.

She thought she could set up a group activity to busy the others and then pull them aside one by one to work on their shortcomings. By the end of the competition, Bean was in first place, Fidget in second and Sharkbait in third, and by that time Sargent Eight had come to collect Racer, the shy little youngling had opened up and was rambling to his Sargent about all the things he'd seen a Jedi and his older brothers do.

**A few hours later…**

"Dogma, what are you doing?" Esinon asked, Dogma jumped at the sudden appearance of his superior officer. He stood up and saluted her,

"Sir,"

"Sit down Dogma," she said, picking up the datapad he had abandoned on his trip to his feet. _BLS on the field for 100 different species. _"Haven't you already read this one?"

"Always good to brush up," he said, she glanced over to where the rest of his squad was engaged in a board game.

"What about your squad?" she asked,

"I need to study," he said,

"Everyone needs to have fun sometimes," she said, clipping his datapad to her belt. "Have you ever played sabacc?" she asked, calling a deck of cards to her hand. She sat down on the floor starting to sort out the cards.

"No sir," Dogma replied,

"I'll teach you, sit," she beckoned him to join her on the floor, and he did so tentatively. He was still unused to his officer's casual nature, Commander Callum was never like this. He was strict, yelled a lot, but it was in their best interest. After a few minutes of practice rounds and Esinon explaining the rules of the game, they got to actually playing. Esinon glanced up at Dogma's squad, she still couldn't figure out why he was so distant from his squad. "Dogma?"

"Yes sir?" he asked, laying another card down.

"If you don't mind me asking, and you don't have to answer this question, but why are you so distant from your squad?" she asked, Dogma was a little lost on the first part, she was giving him a choice? Shouldn't that be an order? Why would she give him a choice? "Dogma?"

"I-uh… I don't have time to 'hang out'. I've got work to do and manuals to study, I want to make sure I actually make it out to the front lines." She smiled softly, glancing down at an insignia on her gauntlet. It was one of a fox,

"When I was twelve, I was sent out on one of my first missions with the 212th." Dogma looked up from his cards at the sudden change of subject but decided not to interrupt her. "I was so excited, and I was ready to prove myself to my Master. I can't for the life of me remember what planet or moon we were on, but it was grassy, full of mountains. We had to move all the heavy machinery single file up the mountainside. With luck, we didn't get ambushed until we split up, this time I was away from Master Kenobi. I was at the front trying to protect my men when a rocket hit on my position. I went flying and the world went dark. When I came to, there was this big soldier above me and my shoulder was throbbing. Figured out I had a good portion of that rocket lodged in my shoulder, along with a shattered collarbone. I survived, don't worry," she joked, noticing his concerned look. Dogma smiled a little bit. "I later found out that that was the Captain of Python Company, Gregor. I passed out shortly after that, and I woke up in the medical bay with a very upset Captain standing over me. Gregor didn't bother to introduce himself, instead, he told me if I ever did something like that again, the Separatists would be the least of my problems. After that, Gregor followed me around to make sure that I was staying safe. He taught me so much about what it means to be a Commander, how to lead, and how to be a good person. He and Foxtrot gave me a kind of comradery that I had never experienced before. It was more than friendship, it was a brotherhood." She smiled up at Dogma, "It's one of the things that I've always envied of the clones. I remember when Captain Keeli came before Ryloth and I was helping to unload supplies. Well, correction, I was following behind Gregor and 'supervising'. Keeli and Gregor were talking like they had known each other all their lives, later when I asked Gregor how long he knew Keeli for, and he said that was the first time they had met each other. There isn't anything like that in the Jedi order," she looked up at him and could read that he was wondering if there was a point to those stories. "I guess what I'm trying to say is you're not alone. Why go in alone when you've got your brothers by your side." Her comlink buzzed, "it's Bear, I've gotta go. See you at dinner."

He watched her walk away and glanced at his squad. The way she talked about Gregor, it was the way one talked about an old friend that they couldn't see anymore. Someone who had died, Dogma kept staring at his squad. When, not if, they graduated from their training, he and his squad wouldn't have the promise of tomorrow. They could be gone before he could blink an eye, he knew his Commander was right.

"Hey Tup," Dogma said, turning to his brothers,

"Yeah Dogma?" Tup asked,

"Mind if I join you?" he asked,

"Thought you'd never ask,"

**A few days later…**

"So can I use the force or not?" Esinon asked as she stretched, Bear was busy doing the same. Their squads had been sent off on a group training exercise a few training rooms down, so the ARCs had taken the opportunity to use the training room to have a real spar. "I always give the troopers a choice."

"Use whatever you got. I want a challenge," Bear said with a grin, jumping to his feet. His armor was in a pile in the corner, along with Esinon's armor.

"Well you asked for it," she said, jumping up and down a few times to psyche herself up. They took their ready stances, Esinon gracefully dodged each of Bear's blows from his fists, but it was only a distraction, he swept her feet out from under her. She quickly flipped away as Bear tried to pin her to the floor, they danced across the mats at incredible speed. Bear tried to send a punch into her face but Esinon mustered up her concentration and phased straight through his fist. He stumbled forward surprised that he was about to make contact with her body but fell through.

Esinon jumped onto his back, putting him a chokehold, wrapping her legs around his waist tightly. Bear managed to grab onto her arm and threw her over him, he pinned one arm to the floor with his foot but she phased right out of his hold. She used her speed to send a barrage of punches into Bear's body, moving too fast for him to even see her. As soon as she slowed down enough, he socked her in the stomach sending her stumbling backward.

He took the chance of her being distracted and sent a barrage of blows her way. She quickly recovered and just as he was about to make contact with her head, she did a backbend avoiding his careening fist. She had too much momentum to stop, so she decided to use it to her advantage. She fell onto her hands, kicking Bear in the face and doing three back handsprings before landing gracefully on her feet. "You wanted a challenge right?" Bear grinned, lunging forwards, and using his brute strength to bring her to the floor. She clawed at his face, "Get off of me!" she growled,

"That's not how this works!" he snapped, pinning her arms to the ground. She phased from underneath his grasp and used her speed to get onto this back and put him in a chokehold. After a few minutes of wriggling in her tight grasp, he accepted his defeat and tapped the mat. Esinon rolled off of him with a smile on her face, both of them panting heavily. They both laid sprawled out on the training mats. "Commander, if you don't mind me asking, why did you become an ARC trooper? I can speak from experience, training sucks."

"Yeah, there were so many days I wanted to skip training because Fives and Echo made it ten times harder because of all my abilities. I've honed my phasing like that because of them. Then I remember why I was doing it… can you not tell anyone the reason why? It's really personal and frankly was traumatic for me."

"Of course Commander," Bear said,

"The battle of Sarrish was a losing battle from the moment my gunship left the hangar. I was tasked on special assignment with Foxtrot group, minus Gregor. My gunship crashed, and me and my group of four men were captured. I wasn't strong enough to save them," she murmured, "After that, I promised that I would never let another man that I could save die under my watch. I knew I needed to be stronger, and becoming an ARC trooper seemed to be a viable option. It's helped me understand my men better, train them, and have a deeper connection to my brothers."

"Brothers?" he asked, he thought that Jedi weren't allowed to know their birth families.

"Aliit ori'shya tal' din, right?" she asked,

"Yeah, aliit ori'shya tal'din."

**The next day…**

Esinon had set up a training course on half of the training room, which was keeping Delta and Theta minus Anchor, busy.. She'd managed to figure out how to do one on one training.

"Alright Anchor, so what you've got going for you is you're a tad bit bigger than your brothers. So throw your weight around, don't be afraid to overpower an opponent." She explained, "You're also smart, so use it. Droids can't think for themselves, you can. Show me what you got," she said, holding up her fists. He took a couple of jabs at her forearms as she blocked and was being shoved further along the mats. She kicked him in the stomach sending him stumbling backward. She lunged, bringing Anchor to the ground. "You're bigger than me," She grunted, shoving her knees into his thighs and pinning his arms to the floor. He took the hint and used his brute force to shove her off of him and pin her to the floor. She wiggled enough to get her legs free, and grabbed his head between them. She gained enough momentum to flip him over her, and she sprang to her feet waiting for Anchor to stand back up.

He quickly got to his feet, throwing hard punches towards her face, she held up her forearms in an x trying to block his savage punches. _E-EC-ECHO!_ She froze up at the scream and Anchor threw a punch sending her flying across the room. She quickly jumped to her feet as Anchor charged her, she sent a punch into his abdomen, sparring with new-found vigor. _ECHO!_\- Esinon froze again, suddenly it was very hard to breathe. Her mind wasn't warping into the memory as it should have, instead, it was like broken fragments were digging their way into her brain. Anchor came flying towards her, socking her in the stomach. She stumbled back a bit but couldn't move, she gasped for air clutching her head, her knees buckled and she fell to the floor. fire and explosions raged around her-_Now's our chance!- a shield-a ship- Echo running towards the danger. She could hear someone yelling, Echo look out!- ECHO!- We have to go now- how am I supposed to tell Esinon?_ The spinning training room went dark.

* * *

"Commander?" Anchor sprinted towards Esinon's still form on the floor. "Commander!" Bean whipped around,

"Anchor what's wrong-" he gasped at his Commander's still form.

"I don't know," Anchor said, checking her neck for a pulse and found one, "She just collapsed,"

"Call Commander Bear," Sharkbait commanded, Cosmo nodded and ran over to the transmitter to call the Commander.

"There's no time," Anchor decided, picking Esinon up. "We'll take her to the medbay ourselves."

"What if it's not safe to move her?" Push argued,

"We can't just stand around and wait," Zoom snapped,

"We've gotta make a decision guys," Bean said, starting to panic.

"What happened?" Bear demanded, skidding into the training room.

"We don't know sir," Anchor said, "I was sparring her, she was gripping her head like it hurt,"

"Did you hit her head?" Bear asked, taking Esinon from his arms,

"No sir, she just collapsed on us," Bear swore under his breath,

"All of you, stay here." He commanded and left the training room with the unconscious sixteen-year-old in his arms.

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon groaned as the throbbing in her head increased as she came too. She flinched as cold fingers prodded her,

"She's awake," A sickeningly sweet voice said, Esinon blinked a couple times as a long-necked Kaminoan came into focus. "I will be right back," the Kaminoan doctor said and strode away. Esinon couldn't really remember what happened, she scrunched her eyes shut. Instead of asking for pain relief, she exhausted herself by using the force to dull the thudding in her head. She sighed, she felt someone tap her cheek,

"Hey, no sleepin' if your head hurts," she blinked her eyes open to see Bear standing over her. "Head trauma's nasty,"

"I didn't even hit my head," she mumbled, rubbing her temples. "Least I don't think,"

"Your symptoms say otherwise," Bear grumbled, she closed her eyes again, "Ey, I said no sleeping," He shook her shoulder, forcing her to open her eyes.

"What happened?" she asked,

"Anchor says you collapsed on him during training, you wanna explain what that's about?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He reminded her of Gregor whenever she worried him. His whole mannerism reminded her of Gregor, her mind shifted to Echo and the daggers that had slashed through her mind when she had collapsed.

"I…" The Kaminoan doctor returned, towering over Bear.

"I believe I have the answer to why you collapsed," she said softly, "We talked to your squads, CT-8908 said that you collapsed during a sparing session. You were most likely dehydrated."

"I wasn't- I'm not dehydrated. I took care of myself before we started sparing. I'm not stupid," Esinon said,

"It is the only plausible explanation,"

"It's not that… it's something else," she mumbled, thinking off what had cut through her mind before she passed out. She'd seen Echo die, in a fiery explosion, she wanted to cry. She wanted to yell, she wanted to scream, she wanted to throw everyone into a wall with the flick of her finger because she knew she could do it. She knew she had that power, but she contained herself.

"Then what is it? We can't help if you don't tell us," Bear argued, getting increasingly frustrated with the young Commander before him.

"Perhaps a Jedi will better understand, General Eerin has just returned," the doctor said, turning to Bear. "I shall go fetch her." Eerin, where had Esinon heard that name before? The Doctor strode away,

"Is this one of those force things that I won't understand?" Bear asked, Esinon nodded, "I'm gonna go find some painkillers for your head. No sleeping." She gave him a two-fingered salute as the red-clad ARC trooper disappeared. A few minutes later he returned with the pills and before he could offer her water she'd already knocked them back dry. "At least drink this," she rolled her eyes, already starting to drink the water when a female Mon Calamari came around the corner pulling on latex gloves made for her webbed hands.

"Alright, what do we got?" Bear stepped out of her way as she stepped towards Esinon. "My name's Bant Eerin, follow my finger please," Esinon obeyed,

"I feel like I've heard of you before," she muttered,

"You're Kenobi's padawan right?" she asked, flashing a light in her eyes, and moving on to test her reflexes. "Esinon,"

"Yes," Esinon replied slowly,

"It's wonderful to meet you, Obi-Wan speaks very highly of you. Say 'ahh'," Bant used a wooden to hold Esinon's tongue in place while she checked the inside of the padawan's mouth. Why that had anything to do with her headache, she didn't know.

"He's mentioned you a few times," Esinon said, as soon as the stick was out of her mouth.

"You're his little spitfire, but you seem to get into less trouble than Anakin so things are looking up," she said, Esinon chuckled,

"Master Skywalker has a padawan of his own now,"

"That's what I've heard," Bant said, grabbing a datapad, "Commander, if you could leave us for a moment." The ARC nodded and reluctantly stepped out. Bant drew the curtain, "Physically, you've only got a concussion. It's beyond me how you got it because you didn't hit your head, but I could sense the imbalance in your mind the moment I stepped in here. This is force related, so please explain exactly what happened."

"I have a rare extension of sense-" she cut herself off, Echo. She couldn't bring herself to say it. "Psychometry. I can see people's memories instead of objects, and I don't have to be touching them, they just kind of come," Bant nodded, scribbling a few things on the pad before motioning for her to continue. "Something was off with my powers today. It was like I was seeing three different people's memories at once, and they weren't complete memories, they were only flashes."

"I have never heard of this extension," Bant murmured,

"Master Vos and Yoda were the ones who helped me hone my skills, they might have some answers."

"Well it has been forever since I've spoken with Quinlin, might as well. I want to keep you here for observation overnight in case anything happens where your powers surge again." Esinon knew she needed to see Qui-Gon as soon as possible. Normally she would have fought spending the night in the medbay where she struggled to get comfortable because of the antiseptics, but she was in a comfortable bed and the sooner she got to sleep the better. Esinon nodded, "Press the button if you need more painkillers, but I think a certain ARC is going to be hovering." She motioned to Bear's shadow on the other side of the curtain, "I'll task Bear with waking you up every couple hours until it's safe to sleep. Get some rest,"

"Thank you Master Eerin," Bant nodded and opened the curtain, she quickly explained to Bear what he needed to do before departing.

"Do my squads know I'm ok?" Esinon asked, as soon as Bear stepped in. He nodded,

"As far as they know, you were dehydrated and will be ok." He said, sitting down in a chair.

"But I'm not dehydrated," she said,

"They won't understand whatever force thing is wrong with you. I'm assuming that General Eerin is going to fix it," Esinon stared at Bear for a moment.

"I… this hits close to home for you, doesn't it?" she asked, motioning around the room and then to herself. Bear spoke after a long moment,

"Yeah, how about I explain after you get some rest," he said, Esinon snuggled under the blankets,

"Or you could tell me now," she replied,

"Sleep, now. I'll wake you in a few hours," he said, flicking off the lights in her portion of the medbay. Esinon sighed and closed her eyes.

* * *

She woke up standing in a desert next to Qui-Gon, with Jar Jar in front of her, and R2 close on their tails.

"All your memories are out of order," she grumbled,

"Hello to you to my little runner," he said, "We're headed into that settlement," he pointed to a city in the distance, "Put this on," he tossed her a poncho which she pulled over her head. No one could see her, but it was hot and sandy out here, so she was thankful for the cover.

"The sun does murder to meesa skin," Jar Jar complained, it was hot here,

"Qui-Gon, where are we?" Esinon asked, scanning the dunes,

"Welcome to Tatooine,"

"Wait!" a man called, a Naboo captain came out with a handmaiden with him. It was Senator Amidala! If Esinon was correct she should be queen right now…. Unless she was only posing as a handmaid. She decided not to bring it up to Qui-Gon because he would probably figure that out later. "Her Highness commands you to take her handmaiden with her."

"No more commands from Her Highness today, Captain," Qui-Gon said, there was the maverick that Esinon knew. "The spaceport will be unpleasant," If anything she had read about Tatooine was true, she was glad no one but Qui-Gon could see her.

"The queen wishes it," the Captain argued, Esinon smirked, this was going to be fun. "She's curious about the planet." Qui-Gon sighed,

"This is not a good idea," he said, "Stick close to me. Same for you little runner,"

"No one can see me Qui-Gon," she said,

"For my own peace of mind," he grumbled, ushering her along as they headed towards the city. They had also figured out that no one could hear anything that they said to each other, for the sake of keeping the memory intact. After twenty minutes of walking through the dunes, they reached the edge of the spaceport. She gaped in awe of the sheer number of species that populated the port, speeders cruised through, along with people on dewbacks and banthas. There were bounty hunters, and merchants all chattering and negotiating prices and yelling to try and get more customers.

"Moisture farmers for the most part," Qui-Gon explained, "Some indigenous tribes and scavengers. The few spaceports like this one are havens for those that don't wish to be found." Esinon nodded, it would be easy to get lost in here.

"Like us," Padme said,

"Dissen berry berry bad," Jar Jar said, he promptly stepped in bantha poop. "AHH! Icky, icky, goo!" at least Esinon knew he was still the same Gungan she knew.

"So where exactly are we going?" Esinon asked as they continued through the bustling port.

"We need a new hyperdrive generator," he said, "Among other things," he scanned the row of shops. "We'll try one of the smaller dealers." They entered the small run-down shop. Parts and broken droids were everywhere, it was more of a pigsty here than in Anakin's room. There was an overweight blue Toydarian sitting behind the counter and he perked up as soon as the bell rang signaling a customer's arrival. He flew over the counter speaking to them in Huttese. The only way she recognized the language was because Anakin spoke it, along with some of the men in the 501st.

"I need parts for a J-type 327 Nubian," Qui-Gon explained, Esinon attempted to wander off into the shop to have a look around, but Qui-Gon grabbed her shoulder and shook his head.

"Ah yes! A Nubian!" the Toydarian exclaimed, now speaking in basic. "We have lots of that," he yelled in Huttese again,

"My droid has a readout of what I need," Qui-Gon said, motioning to what would soon be Anakin's astromech. R2-D2. A small blond-haired boy came running into the room, it was Anakin Skywalker. The hero with no fear! It would never not be weird to see younger versions of Anakin and Obi-Wan. She was thankful that only Qui-Gon would see her because it certainly would be a weird conversation if Anakin and Obi-Wan started having memories of her from before she was born. The toydarian snapped at Anakin in Huttese again, and Anakin quickly responded in Huttese in what she thought was an apology. She was wondering what Anakin was doing all the way out here, she knew this was his home planet but why was he working here when he didn't look to be older than nine.

"So… let me take you out back, huh? We'll find what you need," The Toydarian said, Qui-Gon nodded and motioned for her to follow. Qui-Gon yanked a part out of Jar Jar's hands,

"Don't touch anything," he snapped, placing the part back on the shelf.

"He's a representative now," Esinon said, giggling, Qui-Gon sighed.

"May the force bless our government," he mumbled, following the Toydarian outside.

"I'm going to go look over here," the Toydarian said, "Feel free to look around, but no stealing!" Qui-Gon nodded before setting off in the opposite direction.

"Is there a specific reason you are here? Or is this just a time you are asleep?" he asked,

"I… my powers weren't working right. I passed out," she said,

"Are you still unconscious?" Qui-Gon asked, inspecting a shilo pin.

"No, I woke up after a few minutes of being out. It was horrible, it felt like there were daggers in my skull," she said with a shudder,

"Did you see flashes or a whole memory?" he asked,

"Flashes, it was like I was seeing a whole bunch of people's memories at once." She replied, watching a pair of nunas skitter across the ground.

"Then the memories were probably folding in on one another. When people are in enough distress they unknowingly send memories to you. A lot of people must have been in distress." Her stomach churned,

"Master… I… I saw Echo die. In an explosion," it hadn't hit her until she said it right then. Her heart clenched as she felt tears come to her eyes, she was never going to see Echo again. "I saw how he died too. He grabbed a shield, barely big enough to cover his whole body! Why would he do something so stupid!" she shouted, grabbing the nearest part and throwing it into the wall causing the entire thing to break. "I would expect Fives to do something idiotic like that! Echo's the smart one! He looks before he leaps!" She shuddered finally recognizing the tears streaming down her face, "He's not supposed to be gone," Qui-Gon wrapped her in a hug, "I can't even get back to Fives," she whispered, letting the tears stream freely down her face.

"I know," Qui-Gon said,

"It wasn't supposed to happen like that," she muttered, Qui-Gon didn't say anything, "I want him back,"

"He'll always be with you," Qui-Gon replied,_ there is no death, there is the force, there is no death, there is the force, there is no death, there is the force._ But it hurt so bad. It felt like a piece of her chest had been ripped out. _I just want my brother back._

* * *

"Anchor, it wasn't your fault," Bean insisted, sitting on his bed and trying to get Anchor's attention.

"You don't know that," he snapped,

"Commander Bear said she was dehydrated. That's all, she just got over-enthusiastic."

"She would have said something if she wasn't feeling right, she's not stupid," Anchor argued,

"Maybe she doesn't know how to recognize the symptoms yet," Dogma said, "She may not have known she was dehydrated until then. Don't feel bad, she's gonna be alright,"

"But what if it happens again?" Tup asked tentatively,

"Then we just handle it the same way," Sharkbait finally interjected, "We call Commander Bear, let him know what's going on, and next time, which there won't be one, we'll take her to the medbay ourselves since we know it's safe to move her. Now let's talk about something else,"

"She's nice," Dogma said after a long beat of silence, "She yells a lot less than Commander Callum."

"It's…. almost strange being trained by a Jedi than a brother." Tup added, "The Jedi just seem so distant." They all nodded in agreement. Sure Shaak Ti was around, but she didn't train them, she just oversaw their training.

"She's strong too," Push said, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, "We've all got the sore muscles to prove it." this earned a chuckle from his brothers,

"I want to see her use her speed," Sharkbait said, getting an excited glimmer in his eyes, "And not just the faster than the average life form, like whole Commander Blur, run around a planet in four seconds kind of speed."

"That would be epic," Fidget agreed,

"Do you think they'd let us in to see Commander Windcaster? The Kaminoans I mean," Anchor said,

"I doubt it," Rainstorm replied, "They hate us, calling us by our numbers. Besides, I think Commander Bear is with her,"

"You don't think he's mad at us, do you?" Bean asked,

"No, he's just worried." Zoom assured, "Commander Bear would have come to yell at us by now if he was really mad."

"I guess you're right," Bean murmured,

"Lights out!" their Sargent yelled, and the room went dark. Anchor sighed, pressing the button to his pod, it sliding into the wall. Tomorrow everything would go back to normal, the Commander would be her usual bouncy self and everything would be ok.

* * *

**Phantom *clap* menace *clap* is *clap* underrated.**

**Shoutout to eagle eyes98 for helping me come with some ideas for how Esinon would train troopers!**

**Qui-Gon and Esinon's relationship is really fun to write!**

**I'm also feeling proud of the fight scenes I wrote. Fight scenes are not my forte.**

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: ****Qui-Gon cared a whole ton about all life, while Obi-Wan kept calling all them pathetic lifeforms. Like they would be on a mission, and Qui-Gon would find and injured rodent and start carrrying it until he could find time to care for it. Sometimes along the way he would make Obi-Wan carry it, and say 'Children love small fluffy animals, you two will get along fine.' and Obi-Wan would look at it and say, 'Master. It has spines'**

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	29. Grief

**I just wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH! 60 reviews? that's insane! I have never gotten this much attention and love on a story I've written, and I'm so happy you guys have come to love Esinon as much as I have, and there's only more excitement to come! Again, thank you, thank you, thank you!**

* * *

**The next day…**

Anchor had always been deemed a perceptive person. He could always tell when something was wrong with something, so when Commander Windcaster showed up to their first Citadel practice test looking like she was going to throw up, he knew something was wrong. He decided not to probe about it, because she could handle it right? Jedi were basically invincible, there's a reason that they were in charge, right?

"Take position," Esinon muttered, using the force to leap up to the control tower where she could watch from above. She typed in a few codings for it, as Theta took their position, Delta would go second. Esinon felt like she was going to be sick, and shifted her gaze away from Anchor as he stared at her worriedly. He shook himself from his stupor,

"Remember, focus, and we can do anything," he advised his squad, they all nodded tightening their grip on their weapons. The alarm blared and the droids flooded into the arena. Anchor laid down cover fire with his Z-6 as his squad slit up and took cover on either side of him. Anchor dove out of the way of an incoming blast, sliding next to Bean.

"This ain't so bad," he joked, Bean gave a half-hearted smile as he fired at another oncoming droid. "We have to advance if we ever want a chance of taking that tower!" He flagged his squad forward to next section of cover,

"We need to split up," Bean advised, Anchor nodded,

"Push! Rainstorm! Zoom! Flank the right, Bean, with me!" Anchor commanded, he growled in frustration seeing Push get caught in the crossfire. Zoom tried to make a break for the tower but got caught by a commando.

"Man down!" Rainstorm shouted, Anchor groaned. This couldn't go any worse, could it? He wondered to himself as he watched Rainstorm try to get to Zoom and get shot. They were two men left with almost ten droids still surrounding them. At this point Anchor didn't know what to do, the number one rule was to never leave a man behind, but the odds were too great. Just as he was trying to come up with a plan the training droids slumped, the program shutting down.

"Stop, stop, stop, stop," Commander Windcaster said, shaking her head. She jumped down from the command center as Anchor and Bean went to help their squadmates who were groaning and protesting against their sore muscles. "You guys,- it's- you can't," she started to pace in front of them, growling frustratedly to herself. "The Citadel isn't a joke," she finally snapped, "This is do or die and it's my job to keep you guys from dying! You can't just go and make reckless decisions!" Anchor hastily glanced at Bean who discreetly shrugged. They didn't know what reckless decisions she was talking about, he thought they were pretty level headed about everything, they just didn't do a good job. And it was only their first time so- "You have to be watching! Looking before you're leaping! Not grabbing shields that don't cover all of your body!" She wasn't talking about them anymore, "If he would have just listened to me, he would still be-" She stopped mid-step and mid-sentence, her head dropped. She glanced up at them, then back down at her feet, sucking in a harsh breath, trying to keep her voice even. "I'm… I need to go for a walk. I'll be back in a minute," She headed out of the training room, hugging her arms close to herself.

"So now what?" Sharkbait asked, as soon as the door closed.

"We wait for her- Anchor where are you going?" Dogma asked, Anchor didn't answer, marching after the young Commander. She was standing in the middle of the hallway, pacing back and forth.

"Come on Windcaster, get it together," she murmured, lecturing herself. "You've got a job to do, now get back- Anchor!" She jumped, hurriedly wiping at her eyes. "Uh, sorry I didn't see you there. I was just on my way-"

"Commander, are you alright? Like really alright, and I- I would respectfully ask that you be honest with me, because you aren't usually like this." She stared at the ground for a moment,

"I… a lot of people I care about are at the Citadel right now." she said, "And… I think I lost somebody, I think I should listen to my powers, and my powers are telling me that I lost somebody really important to me... And he looks like you." Anchor's stomach flipped, a clone, she had lost a clone? "So I guess I'm mad at him for being… gone? Haven't really said that out loud, I guess I was inadvertently trying to yell at him, but I took it out on you guys. I'm really sorry," Anchor didn't exactly know what to do at that point.

"It's- it's ok sir, it's alright to be angry," she scoffed,

"Yeah, yeah, tell that to the Jedi." she murmured, rocking back and forth on her feet. "Uh, they're probably waiting for us," she started towards the training room,

"Sir, if you ever need someone to talk to… I- I'm told I'm a good listener," she smiled,

"Thanks, Anchor," she said, disappearing back into the training room, with a fake grin plastered on her face, acting as if nothing had happened. She wasn't planning on taking Anchor up on his offer.

Jedi didn't really talk about their emotions… it was more of a meditate on it and you'll be fine.

It was like the cure-all, just meditate.

She wasn't exactly sure if she was supposed to have emotions, because they were kind of all stuffed down and away, which she didn't know that that wasn't healthy at the time because it was all she had ever known.

Esinon Windcaster was unsure of a lot of things, the only thing she was sure of, was that she missed her brother, and everything was a reminder of him.

**The next day…**

Esinon had trained her squads all day long, but it had been a blur. She couldn't remember most of what had happened, she couldn't afford to grieve so she was just numb. She knew that Theta and Delta had noticed she was off, but she didn't care. She went through the motions, make the plastoid balls float, fire at the target, punch, kick, block, one, two, three. As she lay in bed in her quarters that night she couldn't sleep as memories ripped through her mind. She heard her datapad chime, she grabbed it off of her nightstand and opened it. The Citadel mission report had come in, she scrolled down to the casualty count,

_Jedi Master Evan Piel_

_ARC trooper CT-1409 _

She froze, Echo was truly dead. Her memories had been right all along, her brother was dead. Her hands clenched around the pad,

"They didn't even bother to put his name on the report," she growled, "My brother was not just another number!" She screamed and hurled the datapad into the wall, shattering it into a thousand pieces. She'd had enough, she grabbed her water bottle and a change of clothes heading down to the training room. Esinon didn't bother to wrap her hands, she let bare skin make contact with the punching bag.

With every punch she could feel her rage building, another one made contact, _ECHO! _Electricity sparkled on her fists, scorching the bag as another hit made contact. _Fear leads to anger, _

She was angry at Echo for doing something so stupid, _anger leads to hate, _she hated herself for not even trying to sneak on the mission, she was mad at the Separatists, _hate leads to suffering, _she would never see her brother again. The electricity surged sending an explosion of lightning around the room. Esinon dropped to her knees in exhaustion, she'd lost control. Her panting filled the room, she'd let the anger win.

She pressed her forehead to the floor as the tears came, she was alone with no Jedi or clones to watch her, to judge her, to shame her emotion into the darkness. At the moment she cried, cried that she would never see Echo again, that Fives was alone to grieve, that she could never openly admit to the Jedi of how she missed all her brothers so much.

_Mourn them do not, miss them do not._

Because a Jedi couldn't miss people, they couldn't grieve, they couldn't get attached in the first place, it hurt. It hurt more than any wound ever could, and this was the kind of thing that bacta couldn't fix.

**One week later…**

After Esinon collapsed in the middle of training, Bear had been keeping an especially close eye on her. He never did explain why her collapsing suddenly hit close to home for him, but what she did next, hit even harder. She'd been in the training room for hours on end in the middle of the night, she was barely getting any sleep, and still training both her squads just as hard, if not harder. He wasn't going to let it go any longer, last time he let it go, his brother almost died. He knocked on her door,

"Commander Windcaster, are you in there?" he asked, the door slid open and she hid her hands behind her back.

"Hi Bear!" she said cheerily, the bags under her eyes were more prominent, and she looked exhausted. She reminded him so much of Callum at the present moment. She kept hiding her hands, "Is there something you need?" He pushed her onto the meditation cushions in her room and grabbed her hand.

"I knew it," Bear muttered, staring at her scabby and bruised knuckles.

"It's not a big-" she began,

"Stop, you're gonna break your hand or worse," he said sternly. He opened the medpack he had brought with him just in case his suspicions were correct. "I've seen you go into the training room every day for the past week after hours." She stared at her feet as he generously applied bacta over her knuckles. "So do you want to tell me why you've been down there every night?"

"Wanted to catch up," she muttered, it didn't take a genius to know she was lying. "I haven't had time to do my Jedi training, and it'd be easier to do when I'm being left alone."

"You lost someone, didn't you?" she didn't answer, staring at her feet. "Callum does the same thing when he loses someone. The first time it happened, I let it go. I thought I needed to let him grieve in a way that suited him. Then one day he just collapsed on me. If I would have said something, that wouldn't have happened. So I'm saying something to you." He wrapped her right hand in bandages before starting on the left one.

"I'm fine, really," she insisted, Bear gave her a stern look.

"I'm taking over training of Theta and Delta for at least tomorrow, you need to sleep because I know for a fact you haven't slept more than three hours in the past week," he said, finishing wrapping her left hand. "You need to take it easy,"

"Is that why you looked so worried when I collapsed?" she asked, "More worried than on average." A small smile quirked across her face, Bear nodded,

"My job is to keep Callum from doing anything too stupid, and at the current moment, you." he noticed her small smile drop off of her face.

"Echo used to say stuff like that," she whispered, Bear had heard of the pair of ARC troopers. When he suggested she lost someone, he thought maybe it was one of her friends or her Master, not a clone. Yes, she was friendly with the cadets and other troopers, but he attributed that to the compassionate nature of the Jedi. He placed at hand on her knee,

"I'm sorry," he said softly, she nodded, voices on the other side of her door.

"She's in here!" a little boy exclaimed,

"Are you sure?" another voice asked, Bear sighed,

"You're a bad influence on them, I hope you know that," he said,

"I want to press it!" the boy on the other side of the door said,

"No, let me!"

"They do get into a lot of trouble," Esinon said,

"That's your own fault," Bear muttered,

"We'll press it together," the door slid open to two younglings pressing their hands over the button. It was Racer and his squadmate Bev,

"Uh oh," Bev whispered, Bear stood up,

"What are you two doing up?" he demanded,

"It's alright Bear," Esinon said, standing up to greet the young boys, "I'm sure they have a good reason to be up after hours, isn't that right boys?"

"Um…" Bev murmured, Racer grabbed his hand and squeezed it reassuringly,

"You can say it," Racer whispered,

"But he said he'd throw me down in maintenance," Bev replied,

"Who said that?" Bear demanded, "Who was it, Bev?"

"It was Bric," he muttered, "I had a nightmare,"

"It was the bad one," Racer added, Bear's strict expression fell, Esinon glanced from the ARC to Bev. The bad one? What did that mean?

"Come here," Bear scooped Bev up in his arms,

"You're not mad?" Bev asked, wrapping his arms around Bear's neck.

"No, I'm not mad," Bear replied, holding Bev close. "Bric was a di'kut for saying that."

"You're gonna get in trouble for saying mean things,"

"You get to do stuff like that when you're a grown-up." Bear replied,

"You can come in Racer," Esinon said, sitting back down on her meditation cushion. As soon as Racer got close, she scooped the youngling up into her lap. "Have you got something on your mind?" Racer nodded,

"But I don't want to make you sad," he whispered,

"It's always good to speak your mind," she said, "It's never good to bottle it up." Some hypocrite she was, she noticed Bear glance in her direction before refocusing his gaze back out the window.

"Are you sure?" he asked, she nodded, "I want to be a good soldier, and protect you and the Republic! I don't want to fail,"

"Is that because of what Bric said?" she asked,

"A little bit," Racer said, "I didn't do so good at target practice today,"

"Well that's ok," she said, "You know that I have brothers that used to not do so good at target practice either. They told me stories about how Bric didn't believe in their squad, and now two of them are ARC troopers!" she said, poking his stomach making him giggle.

"Really!" he exclaimed,

"Yes, you just have to work hard and believe in yourself. I used to, well I still get scared I won't make my Master proud,"

"How do you get rid of the fear?" Racer asked,

"Well, you can't get rid of the fear, but you put on a brave face, and you keep marching," she said,

"The Commander is right you know," Bear said,

"I know!" Racer exclaimed, wrapping Esinon in a tight hug. "She always knows what to say," Esinon stomach flipped, she didn't know if she always knew what to say, but she was glad she could help Racer at the moment.

"Isn't it a little past your bedtime," she joked, tapping his nose as Racer yawned,

"Bev's already asleep," Bear said, Esinon hefted a sleepy Racer onto her hip,

"Lead the way Bear," she said, after a few minutes of walking they made it to the rows and rows of sleeping pods. Luckily, Racer's and Bev's were on the bottom row, Esinon tapped the control panel with her foot, wiggling her way from Racer's grip. "Sweet dreams little one," she said, brushing his hair out of his face,

"Goodnight Commander," he whispered, Bear had already closed Bev's pod up and then closed Racer's. Esinon clicked her tongue,

"I don't know how you people don't get claustrophobic in those things," she muttered,

"It's an acquired taste kid," he joked, "Now are you going to go back to your quarters and sleep, or do I have to walk you back?" She smiled,

"I think I can handle it," she said,

"And remember, go sleep, I'll train your squads tomorrow," he said,

"Ok couple things, Dogma does better when he's given vocal encouragement, Push can get stressed out easily so you've-"

"Go to bed," he laughed, "Before I carry you there,"

"Ok, thank you Bear," she said softly. He gave her a firm nod before she disappeared around the corner and headed to her quarters.

**The next morning…**

"I thought I told you to sleep today," Bear said, placing his hands on his hips as Esinon came into the training in a very un-Commander like fashion. She had a datapad clutched in one hand, and the other hand clasping a blanket around her shoulders.

"Slept through the night if that makes you feel better," she said, taking a seat in a chair on the sidelines. "Please continue," the four squads of troopers stared at her as she curled further into the blanket and began scanning something on the datapad.

"See Anchor, she's alright," Bean whispered, Anchor nodded, he drew in a sharp breath centering himself. _You can do anything if you focus. _He took his mark and fired.

"Bullseye," he whispered,

**That night…**

Esinon rolled over in her bed, struggling to fall asleep. It was so… quiet. She was so to the loud noises of Coruscant or the constant tap of boots and chatter of voices on _the Negotiator _from the night crew. She flopped to her other side, clutching the blankets around herself tighter. She scrunched her eyes shut, trying to think calm thoughts and drift into meditation. As she drifted deeper into the force she could feel a presence, a familiar one. Her eyes flashed open, someone was here She leapt out of her bed calling her saber to her hand and igniting it.

"Who's there?" she demanded, scanning the dark room. A light began to glimmer in front of her view,

"Esinon," a voice whispered, she whipped around to see the light had moved with her and was growing steadily brighter and larger. She could make out a shape in the blinding light, a person… a man… an ARC trooper. "Esinon, I'm here," the voice whispered, so achingly familiar.

"Echo?" she whispered, the figure stepped out of the light to reveal her brother. She backed away trembling, "H-how? How are you here?"

"It doesn't matter how I got here, it matters that I'm here," he said, stepping towards her. Her hands were shaking so bad she dropped her lightsaber, the weapon clattering to the ground. Echo caught her as she sank to the ground, "I don't understand," she sobbed, gripping him tightly,

"It's alright vod'ika," he whispered, rubbing her back comfortingly, she held on tighter for fear of losing him.

"How are you here?" Echo didn't answer, continuing to comfort her. She finally pulled away smacking his chest plate, "You idiot!" she snapped, Echo stared at her shocked, "How could you ever do something reckless!" She smacked his chest plate again, "What are we supposed to do with you!" She sucked in a harsh breath, her gaze falling into her lap. Echo placed a hand on her shoulder and brought their forehead together. Esinon took a deep breath, clasping Echo's forearm.

"I will always be with you," he whispered, "If we've got each other, and that's all we have," he began to sing softly, "I will be your brother and I'll hold your hand,"

"You should know I'll be there for you," she finished, tears freely spilling down her face. And with that, Echo was gone.

**One month later…**

"Congratulations," she said, beaming with pride as she fixed a medal onto Anchor's shirt. "You've all graduated, and passed with flying colors. At ease," they all relaxed,

"Next stop, ARC troopers!" Sharkbait cheered, clapping Dogma on the back,

"Yeah, how about we see some action first?" Dogma said, all of the troopers nodded to their Commander as they exited,

"You did good kid," Bear said, patting her shoulder,

"She sure did," a voice said, a green-clad ARC trooper came around the corner. He had a triangle on his chest plate and painted claw marks over his eye.

"Callum?" Bear asked as he embraced his brother, both of them clapping each other on the back as Esinon grinned at the scene. "When did you get back?" Bear exclaimed, pulling away from his brother.

"Just before the test began," he replied, he pulled off his helmet to reveal a clean-shaven head and identical claw mark tattoos over his eye. "I saw them perform, you did an excellent job Commander,"

"Please, call me Esinon," she said, extended her hand,

"Callum," he said, grasping her forearm tightly, she gave a nod. "Thanks for finishing their training, I was frustrated to leave them in the middle but duty calls."

"Indeed, as much as I would love to stay, I'm due back to Coruscant immediately," she said, smiling at the ARCs. She began her walk towards her quarters when Bear caught her hand,

"Hey kid, when you go back to Coruscant, don't push yourself too far. Remember that you are one heck of a Commander, and can do anything that you set your mind to."

"This a habit of yours? Stern pep talks?" she joked, he smiled, "I will Bear, take good care of these shinies."

"I will," she saluted him and he repeated the gesture. She grinned at him before setting off. She found Theta and Delta celebrating their graduation,

"Commander," Dogma saluted her, she stopped in front of them,

"Be on the lookout boys, you're the kind of men I want for the 212th." she said, she smiled at their excited faces, "See you on the battlefield,"

"Sir yes sir!" they all chorused,

**The next night, Coruscant…**

"I'm going out for a couple hours," Esinon said, pulling a coat on over Jedi robes.

"Where exactly are you going?" Ahsoka asked, Esinon glared at her still upset at Ahsoka for sneaking onto the mission. Ahsoka was lucky that she wasn't killed,

"To see Fives," Esinon said, it was her first day back from Kamino, one month after Echo's death. Yes, she and Fives had been talking over a transmitter, but she wanted to spend time with him.

"Be careful," Ahsoka said,

"Always am," Esinon replied, she walked out of the apartment and closed the door, "Unlike you," she muttered to herself. She walked down to the hanger, jumping on a speeder bike and revved the engines pulling out into the busy Coruscant streets. She flew down a couple levels to a familiar bar, Fives waved to her as she parked her speeder. She was greeted by Blitz squad, and a bone-crushing hug from Fives.

"That was too long," he whispered, Esinon smiled, hugging her brother tighter,

"I don't think I'll be going back to Kamino any time soon," she said,

"How were your troops?" Attie asked as Fives finally released her,

"Good, strong," she said, as they started to walk towards 79s. "212th material," Nax rolled his eyes,

"Thought you'd say that," he joked, Esinon grinned. Entering 79s wasn't hard because there weren't any bouncers. Things like IDs didn't really get checked when you were down this far.

Sure the guard would come down every once and while to check things out but that was usually when they were pursuing someone. They entered the bar where loud music pounded, and lights flashed.

Esinon blinked a couple times her heightened Jedi senses adjusting to the stimuli overload. She scanned the room of droids, clones, and a myriad of other species that filled the room.

She'd only been in a bar once and that was for a stealth op, she spotted a pair of Rodians in the corner. She slid closer to Zeer seeing the Rodians looking her over. He put a protective arm around her, giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"I thought only clones frequented this bar," she mumbled,

"Those creeps come here every once and a while when they've hit every other bar," he replied, she felt safe next to Zeer, because he was bigger than anything in here that wanted to try and hurt her. They sat down at a table in the back, where the music was significantly quieter. Drinks were delivered to their table, and a somber note fell over all of them.

"Echo was one of the best soldiers I ever met," Del said, holding up his glass, "And I was glad to have a brother like him."

"To Echo," Fives said, raising his glass,"

"To Echo," they all chorused, they all raised their glasses, Esinon set hers back down as everyone else downed the alcohol in theirs.

"I'm underaged, who wants it?" she asked, Zeer grabbed her glass,

"I got you kid," Esinon smiled softly, her eyes flicked to the back of the club where she could see Echo, smiling at her. She blinked her eyes and he was gone,

"I'm gonna step outside for a minute," she mumbled, scooting out of the booth and walked out of the bar. She sat down on the steps in front of 79s, out of the way of anyone who was entering or exiting the bar. She tugged her coat around her tighter, hoping that no one would ID her as a Jedi. Esinon sighed, this wasn't the first time she'd seen flashes of Echo. She assumed that it had something to do with her powers, but Qui-Gon wasn't sure. She glanced up at the sound of footsteps to see Fives coming to sit down next to her,

"You ok?" he asked,

"Yeah, she muttered, resting her chin in her hands. "Just seein' things,"

"Missed you while you were gone," he replied, Esinon nodded,

"Fives… while I was on Kamino, I saw Echo. He came to me in a vision, I think, I'm not sure," she said, Fives stared at the ground for a moment trying to process this new information. "But he was there, I could touch him, I could hear him. It sounds crazy, I know."

"Sounds incredible," Fives replied, "Maybe it has something to do with the memory thing,"

"I've been going through some old research, and it's possible," she said, silence fell over the two of them as they watched speeders pass by and more clones walk into the bar. Fives was busy thinking about Echo, the war, how tomorrow they might be deployed, and lose their lives.

"Are you… scared?" he asked slowly,

"Of what?" she asked, rubbing her eyes tiredly as she leaned against his shoulder.

"Of… dying?" he asked like death was a cursed word.

"Not exactly… I guess. Cody will tell you that I don't. I guess I'm not afraid of dying because I know that I'm going into the cosmic force when I die. We'll both be reunited with everyone we've lost."

"Even me?" Fives asked,

"You're a living being, right?" she said, nudging him. Fives chuckled, liking the idea of being reunited with all his brothers. "Back to your question about dying, I'm less afraid of the dying part, it's more the losing part."

"Yeah, the losing part is hard." This was the kind of stuff that Esinon only confided in Fives and Echo. The Jedi would question her about her emotions, her attachments, her adherence to the code, Fives and Echo would just listen. She trusted them not to expose her control or lack thereof her emotions. Fives wrapped an arm around her, "The world's not perfect but it's not that bad," he began singing softly, Esinon smiled. Echo's favorite song, "If we've got each other, and that's all we have I will be your brother and I'll hold your hand. You should know that I'll be there for you."

"When the world's not perfect, when the world's not kind, if we have each other then we'll both be fine." Esinon sang,

"I will be your brother, and I'll hold your hand." Fives sang,

"You should know I'll be there for you," they sang simultaneously,

**A few hours later…**

Esinon placed her keys in the bowl, careful to not let them clink too much. It was almost midnight, and she didn't want to wake anyone up. She was surprised to find Ahsoka at the table in front of a laptop with flimsi scattered across the table.

"When you said you were going to see Fives, I thought you meant at the barracks. Not at a bar." Ahsoka said, she looked up from her homework. "That could have been dangerous."

"Like you're one to talk," Esinon snapped, hanging her coat up on the rack.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ahsoka asked,

"You snuck on the Citadel mission, Ahsoka. You could have been killed!"

"But I wasn't," she argued,

"That's not the point Ahsoka," Esinon said exasperatedly, "You think me going to a bar, surrounded by at least seven clones at all times is dangerous. If anyone tried to threaten me they would have a room full of blasters at their head. You went to the CITADEL. Without knowing what the plan was because you thought you could handle it. So yes Ahsoka, I'm upset. I lost Echo, and I don't want to have to know about yours." she snapped, "I'm going to bed," After a beat of silence, Ahsoka spoke up,

"Esinon, I am sorry." Ahsoka said, "I know you're having a hard time with Echo's death, and… you're right the bar wasn't as dangerous as what I did, and maybe I'm just trying to play that down because I feel guilty." Esinon turned around,

"I know that it was the will of the force that you were there, but don't scare me like that again. If you do, I'll come to the Citadel and kick your butt." Esinon said, with a grin, Ahsoka smirked,

"Oh, I know you will,"

"Night Soka,"

"Night E,"

**A few weeks later…**

Fox was a busy soldier. Most people didn't realize how busy he actually was all of the time, he ran on caf and prayers alone. There were constantly troopers pounding in and out of the barracks in his sector of Coruscant. Calls were constantly pouring in, flimsi work to be filed, charges to be made, criminals to detain, it was hard to keep track of everything. Today had been especially chaotic and in the thick of everything, he completely forgot that Commander Windcaster was scheduled for patrol with him that night. He didn't remember that she was going to show up until she showed up at his door.

Fox perked up at the knock at his door,

"It's open!" he called, sorting through another stack of flimsi. The door slid open,

"Hey Fox," Esinon said, smirking at the amount of disorganized flimsi work that covered his office,

"Commander," he said, a little shocked to see her standing in the doorway, "You can come in," she stepped in, avoiding the stacks.

"You a little busy?" she teased, Fox sighed,

"You could say that,"

"You ready to patrol some streets?" she asked, a loud crash sounded outside and Esinon jumped, and it didn't go unnoticed by Fox. Esinon had been here before and should be used to the clatter by now. She wasn't her usual bounce off the wall-self. Something was wrong and he could tell, another loud crash sounded.

"Come on," Fox said, and the little bouncer followed behind him. They headed out to the mainstream area of the barracks where two guards were struggling to hold a thrashing man still. He had tribal tattoos all over his face and Esinon could barely make out the triangular shapes because he was moving so fast.

"Hold still sleemo!" A guard she recognized as Burn snapped, the man continued to thrash,

"What's going on?" Fox demanded,

"We caught him robbing a civilian sir," Burn explained, his voice trembling slightly under his helmet, "We weren't equipped for an arrest, so we brought him here.

"Where's the rest of your squad?" Fox asked,

"Shot 'em," The man gloated, chuckling to himself, "They're all dead," The room tensed, and Esinon's hands flickered over her lightsaber.

"Burn," Fox said, prompting the trooper to tell him if this was true or not.

"It's true Commander, we attempted to apprehend him then he turned his weapon on us." Burn said,

"Take him to the brig," Fox commanded, his fist clenching, "Add manslaughter to the list of charges."

"Manslaughter? I ain't no murderer," the criminal sneered, "I damaged Republic property maybe, but I didn't kill anyone." Several growls, threats, and swears escaped the troopers around mouths. Just as Burn was about to go ballistic on the criminal, a stun blast fired from the center of the room and the criminal slumped. All eyes turned in the direction of the blast to see Commander Windcaster gripping a DC-17 tightly, the barrel smoking.

"You talk too much," she growled, holstering the blaster. Why a Jedi had a blaster, Fox wasn't sure, but he was thankful she had eliminated the problem. She seemed angrier than usual about someone saying something like that about the clones, but then he remembered she had just been on Kamino. She was probably overly sensitive to the fact that most clones didn't think she cared about them. The little bouncer always had something to prove. Burn and his partner dragged the man off, "Alright, let's go." Fox stared at the little bouncer as she started for the door,

"Everybody get a move on! These streets won't patrol themselves," Fox said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. All the troopers moved back to doing their respective tasks as another squad thundered past, Fox led his squad out along with Commander Windcaster. He instructed them on where to go, normally he would have let the little bouncer go off on her own but she was distracted, he didn't want her getting killed. After a few hours of patrolling the underworld of Coruscant, Fox could definitely tell something was wrong.

Normally Commander Windcaster was bouncing off the wall and asking way too many questions for his taste. The kid was the definition of sheltered. He remembered the first time she'd come on patrol when she was about thirteen, she'd stopped in front of every window, and wanted to talk to every person she passed. He'd basically had to push her along in front of him, yet tonight she didn't seem curious about anything, or anyone. She seemed trapped in her mind,

"You alright bouncer?" Fox asked, she narrowly dodged a trash can.

"Fine," she mumbled, trying to focus and failing miserably. When she ran into a third trash can, he'd had enough.

"Alright, you're too distracted for this, we're going for a walk," Fox said, Esinon snapped her head around,

"What? No Fox, we don't need to-" But it was already too late because Fox was calling Key.

"Key, Commander Windcaster and I are going for a walk, keep everything under control until we return," Fox instructed,

"Yes sir," Key replied,

"Fox, we really don't need to-"

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" he asked, she stared at her feet, "That's what I thought, come on," The little bouncer sighed before reluctantly following after him. They walked for a few minutes before she spoke up.

"Jesse was in Echo's bunk today," she said, "I went to go sit there and think, it's my best thinking spot, other than trees of course." She paused, rubbing her hands over one another. "I knew it had to happen sometime. It's not that I don't like Jesse, I've known him since I first became a padawan… it's just when I saw him sitting in Echo's bunk, it made me angry… and sad. Rex found me pretty quickly after that, said he wanted to tell me before I found out on my own. Even if he did catch me before, it wouldn't have stopped me from being upset. It made Echo's death… real, I guess? I know it's real, I've known it's real for almost two months, but now life is moving past it."

"I know how you feel bouncer," he replied, she glanced up at him, a fleeting look of surprise crossing her face, but it quickly fell away. Of course, he knew what it was like to lose a brother, "I went through the same thing just after the war began. Lost a brother while we were tracking a string of murders. I was trying not to think about it, but I was forced to when his 'replacement' showed up in his bunk. I was angry, really angry."

"What was his name? The brother you lost, I mean," she said,

"Zackk," Fox replied, getting lost in memories for a moment, "When Zackk's 'replacement' showed up, I went and punched stuff for a very long time. Being angry or sad is normal, makes you human." he glanced down at her markings, "Well, near-human," she grinned,

"Thanks, Fox," Esinon said,

"Course bouncer," he said, ruffling her hair, "You feeling focused enough to go back on patrol."

"Let's go catch some criminals!" she said, with new-found excitement and vigor. She started to run off with Fox close on her tail,

"Slow down kid!"

"Justice waits for no woman!" she cheered, ducking around another corner. Fox sighed happily, chasing after her.

* * *

**The song that Echo and Fives were singing is called if we have each other by Alec benjamin. The last verse reminds me of the relationship that Esinon, Echo, and Fives have.**

**Now you're probably thinking, how is Esinon having visions of Echo? He's not really dead. Well Esinon doesn't know that. Grief is a powerful thing my friends, especially when you have powers to go along with it. **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: Both Theta and Delta know Spinner, the droid often watches their training and sits with them at meals. He's a puppy, and you can't tell me differently. **

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review!**


	30. Domino

**A few months later…**

Esinon tugged at the uncomfortable collar on her formal robes as Rex inspected another set of beds in the tracking station on Pasti. She didn't understand why she needed to be here for base inspections, couldn't Cody just go with Rex? That's how it was every other time there needed to be base inspections and it was left up to the 501st in 212th, but Obi-Wan had insisted that he needed Cody to stay on _the_ _Negotiator. _

She was bored and they still had a lot more tracking stations to inspect. Rex had agreed to inspect this one but she was in charge of the next one in the Abrion System.

"Everything in here looks good," Rex said,

"Just like every other room in this station," Esinon mumbled, rocking back and forth on her feet.

"We've only got two more Arion then Rishi," he said, patting her shoulder,

"We've been at this for two days Rex," she complained, "And these formal robes are uncomfortable." She wasn't even allowed to wear her armor, which ticked her off, to say the least.

"Almost done," he said, "Let's go tell the Sargent he's good to go."

"Can I fly?" she asked, Rex didn't answer, "Please,"

"Not if you're going to fly like General Skywalker," he said,

"You don't like my flying?" she asked, smirking at him,

"It's not that I don't like it, I don't like when you're spinning everywhere. Don't need that kind of nausea," he said,

"What if I promise not to spin," she said, as they entered the command station.

"Fine, but if you do, you owe me a drink."

"I don't get paid either you know," she replied, glancing at the troopers who were staring at her curiously.

"You'll figure it out," Rex said, he quickly talked to the Sargent and they headed out to their ship.

"Only two more," She muttered, climbing into the pilot's seat. She flicked a few switches,

"No spinning," Rex said, pulling out a datapad to probably write up a report for the Pasti tracking station,

"I wasn't going to," she grumbled, pulling the ship up and out of the atmosphere.

**A few hours later…**

Esinon strolled into the tracking station on Arion to find a few familiar faces, all of the troopers snapped to attention.

"Sharkbait? Dogma?" she said,

"Commander," Dogma said, saluting her, Rex came in behind her,

"Troops," Rex said,

"Rex, I'd like you to meet Delta squad one of the squads I trained on Kamino," she said, motioning to all the members. "And future members of the 212th," she whispered to Rex,

"Hate to break it to you kid, but as soon as they're done here, they're coming to the 501st."

"Dang it Rex!" she whisper-shouted, "I get Theta. Those troopers are mine." Rex grinned under the helmet,

"Let's get underway with the inspection, shall we?" Rex said, Esinon rolled her eyes and headed to inspect the base.

**Meanwhile on the Rishi moon…**

"Attention! Sargent on deck!" Bean called, all the troopers in the room stood at attention.

"At ease," Sargent Buck said, they all relaxed, "Even though you're all new here, I shouldn't have to remind you that this quadrant is key in the outer rim. If the droids get past this facility, they can surprise attack our homeworld of Kamino. There are a couple of officers coming here, I want everything squared away for inspection. Understood?"

"Sir yes sir!" they all responded, Buck nodded before walking away.

"Maybe Commander Windcaster is coming," Bean said happily as he began organizing his station, not that there was much to be organized. Bean was a neat-freak.

"Jedi don't do base inspections, they're too high up for us lowly tracking station watchers." One of the more seasoned troopers snapped, Abra, was his name.

"Then you've never met Commander Windcaster," Zoom replied, Anchor nodded in agreement,

"A Jedi is a Jedi and they don't care about us," Abra said,

"Shouldn't you be out on the deck. No deck officer makes us look sloppy," Push said, Abra rolled his eyes, grabbing his bucket and heading out onto the deck.

"Less chatting, more preparing," Buck said, walking through the command center, a loud alarm went off.

"Meteor shower sir," Rainstorm warned,

"Raise the shield," Buck commanded, they all took their positions. The shield raised up as meteors clattered outside, after a few seconds the racket quieted and the shields were disengaged.

"Hang on," Abra's voice said over the coms. "There's something out there… commandos droids! Two pods! I'm overwhelmed-" the line went dead, the whole room tensed.

"Theta, weapons, now," Buck commanded, already heading for the secret weapons stash that Rishi had installed after the base was last attacked. Theta got up and followed their Sargent, grabbing weapons and arming themselves. Rishi was being attacked again, they all sprinted out to the deck where they took point.

"They're moving fast," Zoom said, looking through his visor. They all tightened their grip on their weapons. Bean had his eye locked through a sniper rifle, as they all tried to keep their attention locked on the commandos instead of Abra's dead body.

"Pick your mark Bean," Buck whispered, the trooper's finger tightened on the trigger. Bean fired and took out a commando, Anchor was ready with his Z-6 to cover his brother's back. Bean continued to take out one by one and the droids attempted to fire back but they were too far away to do any real damage with E-5 blasters. It didn't last long because the commando droids were closing in fast, in seconds they were on the deck and attacking the clones that resided there. Anchor let out a barrage of fire taking out two of the commandos, as Bean took out three more with the sniper rifle with shots through the head.

"Five," Bean gritted, as he took out another commando,

"Four," Zoom growled,

"Three,"

"Two,"

"One," Push fired and took out the final commando. They all stayed tense, there weren't any more droids on the deck until Rainstorm heard something creak. He whipped around to see a commando droid perched on top of the doorway, optics flickering. He attempted to fire on the droid but missed, four more commandos flipped out from inside the base.

"Kriff!" Anchor shouted, releasing a barrage of fire on the commandos but couldn't seem to make contact. Theta was being backed into a corner when a loud whistling filled their ears.

"Rocket!" Push screamed, but it wasn't soon enough. The missile hit the deck, and before anyone could react they all were falling, gravity carried Anchor's body downward, in a dark pit, he hit the ground and the world went dark.

* * *

Push blinked his eyes open, the first thing he became aware of is that his body hurt, hurt a lot. He blinked his eyes a couple of times as he tried to remember what had happened. He was falling, a missile, the droids, his brothers! He attempted to sit up too fast and pain flared in his vision, he gritted his teeth, pausing a moment before sitting up the rest of the way. As far as he could tell, he's alone. Panic clenched at his heart for a minute,

"Pull it together Push," he growled to himself. The first thing he needed to do was salvage weapons and find survivors. If he survived the fall, others could have to. He couldn't be the only one. Push finally shoved himself to his feet and looked up. The entire bridge was gone, leaving a jagged remain of where the deck used to be. Push jumped when a cry of pain echoed through the canyon, someone else survived! His heart pounded with hope, he ignored the ache of pain in his body for the time being and started in the direction of the noise. The voice cried out again and Push got a lock, he sprinted through the canyon and found who the source of the noise was. It was Bean, he was gripping his helmet tightly in his hands, his eyes glassy with pain. Push almost vomited at the sight of Bean's leg, it wasn't supposed to bend like that.

"Hey Push," Bean gritted out, "Where are the others?" he attempted to sit back up, but Push gently pushed him back down onto the ground, Bean gripped his helmet even tighter as another fresh wave of pain washed over him.

"You're the first one I've found Bean," Push said,

"They can't be far," Bean said hopefully, he ground his teeth again as pain started to spread like a fire.

"Bean! Push!" Anchor yelled, sprinting over to their position. He knelt down next to his brothers, holding a couple scavenged E-5s in his arms.

"Are you guys alright?" he asked, Bean glared at him before his gaze softened.

"Yeah, we're fine,"

"His leg's broken," Push explained,

"Both of you go look for the others," Bean instructed, grabbing an E-5 out of Anchor's hands. "I will be fine, come back for me when you find them."

"Stay on the ground," Anchor said, Bean was about to argue but Anchor shot his brother a look before motioning for Push to follow him through the canyon. They quickly found Zoom who was unconscious but that seemed to be the extent of his injuries. They found Rainstorm not far from Zoom's position. Those two couldn't be separated. Rainstorm was bleeding from a couple of cuts, but nothing serious enough to be fatal.

"Look what I found," Rainstorm said happily, holding up Bean's sniper rifle. Push grinned under his helmet, Anchor hefted Zoom over his shoulder.

"Where's the Sargent?" Push asked, Anchor's face darkened.

"I woke up next to him… he didn't make it." Anchor said, Push didn't pry about it any further, Anchor carried Zoom to Bean's position,

"He's just unconscious," Anchor said, as a worried look crossed Bean's face at a limp Zoom over Anchor's shoulder. They all froze as they heard something hiss, an eel burst out of the side of the cavern. None of them moved since the eels have terrible eyesight, the eel slowly moved its head searching for anything to eat. It soon decided that nothing was there and slithered back into the hole it came from. They all let out a held breath,

"We better move before that thing comes back," Push whispered, they all nodded in agreement. Push and Rainstorm went over to Bean and held him stand as Bean bit back cries of pain. They headed further into the canyon to a narrower section where the eels couldn't get to them.

Theta found a suitable cave where they could come up with a new plan in hopes of retaking their base. Anchor began looking Bean's leg over while Push helped bandage up Rainstorm's cuts. Zoom finally woke up and tried to get into a sitting position, but Anchor shut that down pretty quickly after yelling at him for a good five minutes about not moving until they could determine whether he was concussed or not. Anchor had been hiding it, but his wrist was fractured. Push pulled Anchor aside by his good arm and splinted his wrist.

"So what's our next move?" Bean asked, managing to prop himself up without jostling his leg too much.

"If we wait long enough, someone will notice something is wrong." Push said,

"They would have hard wired the all-clear signal by now," Zoom muttered, "Like last time,"

"So we try to blow up the base when half of us have broken bones?" Rainstorm asked, feeling more defeated every second.

"No, no," Anchor said firmly, "We are not giving up. Not when our home planet is on the line."

"Well, what do you suggest we do Anchor?" Rainstorm snapped, "Our Sargent is dead, the bridge is destroyed, we are in a cave with no means of contact while Commandos have flooded the tracking station we were supposed to protect. Bean can't walk, your wrist is broken, and I'm oozing blood everywhere." he motioned to his red armor, "So unless you have some miracle of a plan, we have failed."

"Arguing isn't gonna get us anywhere," Bean finally said, "Now let's come up with a plan, for all our brothers back home."

"Wait up a minute," Zoom shot up, and before Anchor could yell at him to lay back down, he spoke up, "If they want to attack Kamino, they'll just move up the attack. If we want to save Kamino, we can't sit here and plan for four hours."

"Zoom's ri-" Anchor paused at the roar of a ship's engines, and the familiar whine of a missile. "The inspection team," he muttered, "Bean, Zoom, stay here,"

"No, I'm coming too," Bean said, trying to push himself into a standing position. Push barely tapped Bean's leg, the trooper paled and scrunched his eyes shut. Anchor was already sprinting towards the soon to be crash site as a Republic shuttle hurtled towards the ground, half of it engulfed in flames. Anchor had always been the fastest of Theta and Push and Rainstorm were trailing behind. The ship crashed into the ground, luckily not rolling over itself. They could see two figures emerging from the flames, one more carrying the other. The first figure was significantly larger than the second. They were desperately trying to get away from the ship before the fire hit the fuel line and the explosion killed them both.

Anchor was running faster than he ever had in his life because he knew that one of those figures wasn't a clone, it was a girl. He didn't make it in time as the ship exploded sending the two figures flying. The clone grabbed the girl mid-air and brought her to his chest, taking the brunt of the explosion.

* * *

Rex was sent into the ground, hugging Esinon tightly to his chest. She was unconscious from the impact of the crash. He slid through the rocky soil of Rishi's surface. He was starting to wonder if Rishi was cursed. He released Esinon, and frantically searched for a pulse. He found one, and let out a sigh of relief,

"You're a fighter kid," he said, patting her shoulder gently, "you're a fighter," she had blood trickling down the side of her face, and a fair amount of scorch marks and ash streaked all over her body. Three troopers came running over, and the first knelt down next to Esinon, also checking for a pulse. He breathed out and relaxed when his fingers found one. "She's just unconscious," Rex explained, getting to his feet, to address the shinies, "She took the brunt of the crash, she was in front," Rex pulled off his helmet and the shinies instantly recognized him and snapped to attention, all except for the one who was still next to Esinon and trying to assess how bad the cut on her head was. "At ease," he waved his hand, a little too tired to care about formalities at the moment. "What's the situation here?"

"We were attacked by commandos sir," one of them explained, "They fired a rocket on the bridge while we were fighting. Two of our members are severely injured, and… our Sargent is dead." Rex sighed,

"Saw the bridge, well what's left of it, and assumed something was wrong. Didn't see the rocket until it was right on top of us,"

"We're set up in a cave about half a mile from here sir," one of the troopers piped up, "We scavenged some weapons, and were trying to come up with a plan to take the base back when we heard your ship."

"Sir," the one down by Esinon said, "I believe it is safe to move Commander Windcaster." Rex knelt down next to Esinon, hefting the sixteen-year-old into his arms. She probably weighed less than his armor soaking wet, so it wasn't that hard. Esinon stirred slightly, which was a good sign.

"Lead the way," Rex commanded, the three shinies started down through the canyon and in about ten minutes they had reached the cave. He soon got Esinon settled and made sure nothing was bleeding too badly, he sat down and Theta squad introduced themselves. Rex already knew about them because Esinon didn't shut up about Theta and Delta.

"Sir, Push and I were strategizing before you arrived," Bean explained, "And we think we have a plan." Rex noticed how the shinies stared at him in awe and forced himself to keep from laughing because now was planning time.

"Alright Bean, whatcha got?" Rex asked, placing his helmet beside him.

"I think we should split up into two teams, one to infiltrate the base and the push the commandos outside. The second team will be waiting outside to help take out the droids. Commander Windcaster can then hack the mainframe and disable the all-clear signal while the droids are distracted. I'll take sniper position above the base."

"No way," Anchor snapped, "You can't walk there is no way you are coming. You are staying here."

"No, I am not. I'm the best shot we have, I'd rather die than stay here. You guys need me,"

"That's the spirit," a hoarse voice interjected, Esinon was slowly pushing herself into a sitting position.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Rex joked,

"Sir, I don't if you should be upright." Anchor said as Esinon grimaced, feeling some of her bones shift.

"This isn't my first injury, and it probably won't be last. I've had worse, way worse,"

"How you feelin' kid?" Rex asked, tossing her a canteen of water,

"Like I was run over by a bantha," she mumbled,

"Gregor always did say it would happen," he replied, she chuckled, taking small sips of the water.

"So I was starting to come to when you guys were strategizing, I think it's a great plan. But as always we'll need a plan B."

"I don't know if we have time for that, we are on a time crunch sir," Rainstorm said, "The droids are moving up their invasion of Kamino."

"Lucky for you, Domino has already come up with one for us," Esinon said,

"I like what you're getting at," Rex said with a grin,

"If I can't hack the mainframe, this base runs on Rhydonium. Heats up the base during the winter. Rhydonium is an explosive little friend of mine, we pack enough of it together and we can blow the base. That's a last-ditch option. I'm on the infiltration team, Anchor, Rainstorm, Zoom, you're with me. Push, Bean, Rex, get on the outside. Let's do this fast because I'm not gonna do Kamino again." Esinon said, climbing out of the cave and stretching her sore muscles.

"How are you feeling?" Rex asked Esinon as the Theta got prepared.

"I think I crushed a rib, or three. Drummer's gonna have me in a bacta tank as soon as we get back. Then I'm gonna get a lecture about how only I could manage to find trouble during a base inspection. Then he'll start a rant about how he's never letting a Kenobi and a Skywalker have joint training of a padawan ever again," she said,

"So not your first time?" He teased her, she rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Be careful kid,"

"Careful as I can," she replied, as Theta exited the cave and met up with Rex. "We all synced up?" She checked her comlink, seeing that her's and Rex's were blinking in sync. And with that, they went their separate ways.

She started searching the edge of the canyon with everyone close behind her, she soon found a maintenance tunnel and pried the grate off using the force. She wriggled inside and felt a few bones click, she must have crushed a few ribs on the way down, "Gah this war sucks," she grumbled to herself as she started her climb through the ventilation shaft. She heard everyone clamber in behind her, they crawled for a few minutes in silence, except for the few swears of Anchor when he jostled his broken wrist too much.

They finally made it to a block in the tunnel where it started to go straight up. Luckily there was a ladder, she began climbing up, up, up, they soon made it to another flat part of the tunnel, and Esinon could hear commandos conversing. She held up her hand and everyone behind her froze, she crawled forward and peered through the grate.

They were above the command center, only five commandos were still stationed at their desks. She smirked, unlucky clankers were about to get a lightsaber through the noggin. Anchor squeezed in next to her to get a good look, Esinon tapped her comlink it blinking green, Rex's would be doing the same. She could hear blaster fire echoing outside,

"The sentries have been destroyed," one commando reported to another, "The surviving clones have begun firing from the remains of the bridge."

"Send a squad out to take care of them," the other one commanded, a squad of commandos exited the base. She glanced back at her troopers and counted to three on her fingers.

_Three_

_Two_

_One_

She kicked the grate out and dropped down from the ceiling, deflecting several bolts as soon as her feet touched the ground. She slashed her saber through the commanding droid as Anchor, Zoom, and Rainstorm dropped from the ceiling as well. They quickly took out the remaining commando droids, but Esinon's blade stayed poise. Part of ARC training, you never, EVER let your guard down. If you do, it could get you killed,

"Watch that door," she commanded and sat down at the control panel starting to attempt to hack the mainframe. Problem was, the droids had already hardwired the all-clear signal. She swore under her breath, her fist clenching in frustration. She noticed electricity starting to crackle around her knuckles, for a moment she panicked, which only made it worse. Then she remembered what she needed to do, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Zoom, with me, we've got to go get the Rhydonium. Anchor, Rainstorm, go help Rex, tell him we have to blow the base." The trooper nodded, and Zoom took off after Esinon. He let her take point as she swiftly took out any droid that headed their way. She found where the Rhydonium was stored, she carefully cut it out of the wall and with Rainstorm's help, they hauled it to the command center.

Esinon began setting up the massive bomb, keeping her focus because if she didn't and clipped the wrong wire, she would blow herself up. Rex, Anchor, Push, and Rainstorm came running into the base.

"A Separatist fleet just came out of hyperspace," Rex panted, "Since the command droid failed to report in, they'll send down reinforcements." Esinon slammed her fist frustratedly into the ground, she was tired, she was in pain, and was getting overwhelmed fast.

"Just- I need more Rhydonium, and any other explosives you can find. I don't have enough to take the whole base." She said, she froze for a minute, Bean was still on the roof. Since the bridge was destroyed, the droids would have no other choice but to land behind the base, they would find Bean. Anchor was strongest, she would send him to get Bean and take him down to the canyon. "Anchor, go get Bean off the roof, go down to the canyon, Rainstorm, help him. Push, Zoom, help Rex get the rest of the Rhydonium and explosives,"

"Sir yes sir!" they all replied, before running off, leaving a frantic Esinon alone. A million thoughts were whirling through her head, and she didn't know what was causing this panic. Maybe it was because ever since she arrived on the planet she could sense Domino. She'd heard the story so many times, she couldn't count how many. She could sense all of them even though she'd never even met three of them. Most of all she could sense Echo. Maybe that was why she was panicking because for the first time in a while, her emotional armor was cracking and she was reminded of how much she actually missed her brother.

Rex and Theta minus Anchor, Bean, and Rainstorm came running around the corner, pushing Rhydonium canisters and explosives. She got to work, strapping the bomb together, she could sense the ship coming around the back.

"Rex, take the troopers and go, get down to the canyon. I'll finish here," she said, hard at work on a datapad.

"But sir-"

"Rex, I am not asking." She snapped, she normally didn't pull out the CO card, but she was too tired, and hurting too much to care.

"Yes sir," he said, before ushering the rest of Theta back into the maintenance tunnel. They would find Bean, Anchor, and Rainstorm, she would finish here, the fleet would come and pick them up and she could rest.

She plugged in the datapad syncing it with the Rhydonium when the pounding of droid feet came, she worked faster, she pulled out her lightsaber with one hand and continued to work on the code with the other.

B1s came around the corner and open fired, she deflected as many bolts as she could and dodged others. She glanced down at her datapad seeing it was flashing green, she could leave! She jumped to her feet datapad in hand and used the force to knock down an incoming wave of B1s.

She needed to get out here, now. She vaulted herself over the control panel into the middle of the room where hundreds of droids were converging, the grate was right above her, a bolt hit her shoulder.

She growled in pain as she recovered, she jumped up into the grate but blaster bolts were still singing their way right where she was trying to crawl. She had to blow the base now, whether or not she was outside.

They might find her troopers if she didn't. She smashed her finger on the detonator and the explosion raged behind her, she was thrown forward through the tunnel, she smacked hard into the end of the tunnel before falling about 20 feet down the ladder they had climbed.

She was unconscious before she even hit the ground, as fire raged overheard and shrapnel fell towards her prone body. Qui-Gon wasn't ready to let his little runner die. His kyber crystal ripped from around her neck and headed out to find Rex.

**Moments earlier…**

BOOM! The base went up in a fiery explosion, and Esinon had yet to make an appearance in the canyon.

"Commander," Rex said into his comlink as he stared at the base praying that she wasn't still inside, "State your location." The only response was static, "Commander, come in please, are you alright?" His heart dropped with every passing second, "Esinon, can you please say something so I know you're ok." He tore off his helmet and hurled it against the canyon wall, "Kriff! Esinon, please come in!" Rex's worst fear had been realized, Esinon had still been in the base when it exploded. There were still nights when he woke up in a cold sweat having watched Hevy die again when he couldn't do anything about it. He should have stayed with her, he should have been there! "No," he growled to himself, "She's not dead unless we find a body,"

"Sir," Anchor said slowly, "There won't be a body to find," Rex knew he was right, how was he supposed to tell General Kenobi or Skywalker, or Ahsoka? How was he supposed to tell two entire legions that they're beloved Commander was dead?

Tears trickled down his face, and he didn't care if any shiny saw him. He had failed. He looked up from the ground to see a bright light racing towards him, as the light came closer he could make out what it was. A necklace, with a crystal on the end. One identical to the one Esinon wore around her neck.

The crystal stopped in front of him, bopping around in front of his face, it was like it was trying to tell him something. The crystal drooped for a moment before perking back up. It looped itself around his neck and started to pull.

It was crazy that this crystal could know where Esinon was, but this was his only option at this point. Rex ran with the crystal as it tugged him forward, Theta squad was right behind him. The crystal stopped in front of the maintenance tunnel that Esinon had entered through. That's where she was, she was in there,

"Stay here," Rex commanded, he began crawling through the tunnel and he could see a smoldering pile of shrapnel at the end. "Esinon?" The crystal tugged its way from around Rex's neck and dove into the pile of shrapnel. Rex began to dig his way through the shrapnel as it seared through his gloves, his hissed in pain but kept digging anyway because he could see a body. He finally dug enough of a hole to see Esinon's still body, he pulled her out and pressed an ear to her chest.

_Thump, thump,_

_Thump, thump, _

_Thump, thump,_

He let out a breath of relief, her heartbeat was weak, but she was alive, he clutched her to his chest. She was alive.

"Captain!" Anchor called, "Evac is here!"

"You're gonna be alright kid," Rex whispered, the kyber crystal resettled around her neck, still glowing brightly. Esinon wasn't looking good, most of her robes had been burnt off, or seared into her skin. Her skin was an unhealthy red in patches with charred robes sticking to it. His gloves were now sticky with blood, his chest plate stained with it as well. There was no doubt shrapnel lodged in her body, and a multitude of broken bones, bruises, and burns. Slowly but surely he dragged her out of the tunnel, where a gunship was waiting. Kix didn't waste any time and grabbed Esinon from Rex's arms and began spouting a ton of medical terms that Rex didn't understand but assumed weren't any good. All Rex could do at this point was pray.

**Twenty minutes later...**

Obi-Wan still wasn't allowed inside the medbay, so all he could do was pace the outside, while Anakin tried to comfort Ahsoka. The young Togruta was sitting against the wall with her knees drawn up to her chest. Anakin had an arm around his padawan, gently stroking her lekku while they waited for more news. Fives, Rex, and Cody had just been watching, the soldiers were stoic and unmoving. The entire population of _the Resolute _was holding its breath, hoping, praying that Esinon would pull through.

* * *

"Is this the one who Echo keeps going on about?" a gruff voice asked,

"I thought she would be bigger," a strongly accented voice replied,

"I think she's cute," a bouncy voice interjected,

"Give her some room to breathe," an all too familiar voice said, Esinon groaned blinking her eyes open to see four clones peering over her, Echo, and three others she didn't recognize.

"She doesn't need to breathe if she's dead," the gruff one said, Esinon shot up,

"I'm dead?!" she shouted,

"No, no, no, Hevy's just… being Hevy." Echo said,

"Hevy?" Esinon choked, she glanced up at the clone with tattoos on either side of his face. She looked around, this was her apartment, she was in the living room. "What's going on?"

"Well we aren't really sure," the bouncy one said,

"She's not dead," Echo said, noticing that Esinon was starting to panic,

"Who are you? What's going on?" she snapped, looking up at the three clones she didn't recognize,

"This Hevy," Echo motioned to the tattooed clone, "Droidbait," He motioned to the bouncy clone, "And Cutup," he motioned to the bearded clone.

"I can't be here, you are all dead," she said, getting off the couch and backing away. "And I am _not _dead."

"You sure about that?" Hevy asked bitterly,

"Are you mad at me?" she snapped frustratedly,

"He doesn't want someone to die in the same way he did," Droidbait explained,

"If anything, I'm gonna die from a twenty-foot fall and third-degree burns, not from exploding myself." she shot back,

"I didn't have a choice," Hevy growled,

"I know!" she finally shouted, "You're my hero dude!"

"With all the stuff Echo has told me I should say the same!" Hevy shot back,

"That's the most aggressive complimenting I've ever seen," Cutup said, watching Esinon and Hevy stare each other down. Esinon finally broke her gaze away from Hevy,

"Ok, ok, ok, we've got to figure out why I'm here in the… afterlife," she finished slowly,

"You got banged up, but for the moment, you're alive." Echo said,

"How do you know?" she asked, Echo grabbed the remote off the coffee table and turned on the TV. She could see herself on a bed in the medical bay, with Coric, Drummer, and Kix, along with a whole bunch of trainee medics surrounding her. She was still foggy on what happened, she remembered getting thrown into the wall at the end of the tunnel, but she passed out after that. "Can I go back,"

"Well this is the first time we've had someone who was still alive come here," Cutup said, Esinon rolled her eyes,

"I can't stay here, I've got to get back to the land of the living. It's where I belong,"

* * *

Obi-Wan hadn't let up his pacing, he was comforted by the subtle beep of Esinon's heart monitor as the medics continued to work.

_Beep… beep… beep… beep… beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep _

Obi-Wan's gaze shot up from the ground,

"She's seizing!" Drummer shouted, grabbed an AED cart, Esinon's body was contorting and shaking on the bed, his body clenched up as the beeping stopped along with Esinon's heart. Her body lay still, Obi-Wan's hand went to his mouth, his hands beginning to tremble, and tears streak down his face.

"Charge for two hundred," Kix commanded, "You're clear," Drummer shocked her with the paddles, and nothing happened. Kix began chest compressions, Obi-Wan could hear ribs breaking under his weight, and flinched with every crack. "Come on," Kix growled, "Come on,"

"Charge, get clear," Drummer said, Coric obeyed, Kix backed away and Drummer shocked her again. Nothing happened, Esinon's body stayed still, minutes passed until all the medics shared a look and backed away from Esinon's body.

"Time of death, 11:53," Kix said, his fists clenching around Esinon's blanket, Ahsoka's sobbing filled the room as Obi-Wan sank to the ground. Cody was at his side immediately, bringing the elder man into his arms. Obi-Wan heard the sound of a plastoid helmet hit the wall,

"Fives!" Rex shouted. Tears streamed down Obi-Wan's face, his padawan was dead. His beloved sunshine padawan who had brought so much light into his life was dead. Minutes passed as everything slowly became real. He'd failed as Master, he should have been there. He should have never sent her on that base inspection. Now she was dead. Because of him.

_Beep… beep… beep… beep… beep… _

Esinon's eyes shot open as a multitude of coughs wrenched their way out of her throat as she gasped for air.

"Hey, hey, hey," Kix said, grabbing her shoulders and holding her to the bed as she continued to sputter and cough violently. "You're alright, slowly, in… out… in… out, you're alright." She moaned in pain, grappling at her chest, her eyes scrunched closed, "There you go," he said, as her breathing evened out, still a bit raggedy, but she was breathing.

"Hurts," she whimpered, her voice quiet and shaky,

"Makes sense, you were dead for about six minutes," Kix said, stroking her hair gently with his thumb trying to calm the frightened padawan. The miracle padawan.

"Obi-Wan," she coughed, grabbing Kix's wrist, "Obi-Wan, please,"

"General Kenobi!" Kix shouted, a huge smile on his face, "Get in here!" Obi-Wan jumped to his feet and darted into the medbay, coming to his padawan's side. He wrapped the little ball of sunshine in a hug, she took a deep breath, snuggling her head in his shoulder. She was safe, she was alright,

"Sorry," she murmured, Obi-Wan released her, easing her back onto the bed. He brushed a few pieces of sweaty and burnt hair out of her face, careful not to bump any of the severe burns on her skin.

"You have nothing to be sorry about padawan mine," she smiled softly, before coughing again, she grimaced as soon as she finished,

"Hurts,"

"It's going to for a little while, ok?" Obi-Wan explained, he couldn't help but smile at her.

"What happened?"

"You tried to be a sacrificial lamb," Kix said, already checking her vitals and hooking up another tube to her body. "You exploded Rishi base but didn't get all the way out of the base. You're lucky Rex found you, said something about a crystal."

"Thanks, Qui-Gon," she murmured, closing her eyes, Obi-Wan glanced down at her. Why in the name of the force would she be thanking Qui-Gon?

"Bacta tank in not too long kid," Kix said, she nodded,

"Ok,"

"Someone go get Fives, tell him that she's gonna be alright," Drummer said, Rex nodded before setting off to find the ARC trooper. "General Skywalker, Commander Tano, Cody, you all can come in." The four of them entered the room and Esinon smiled,

"Are you trying to get back at me for Mortis?" Ahsoka joked half-heartedly, folding her hand into Esinon's. She smiled,

"Yeah I guess I was," she teased,

"No more cheating death Speeds, you'll scare Rex too bad," Anakin said, Esinon gave him a look, "Fine, you'll scare me too bad," Anakin's comlink beeped,

"General, we are six hours out from the medical station." Admiral Yularen reported,

"Medical station," Esinon grumbled, knowing she was gonna be out of the action for a while.

"No complaining," Obi-Wan said, "You need to take it easy, I believe Bant is at that one we're headed to,"

"I like Master Eerin," Esinon murmured sleepily,

"You've met her?" he asked, she nodded, Kix came over holding a mask, most likely connected to anesthesia.

"Commander, we're going to put you back under. We still have some work to do," Kix said, giving her a sympathetic look when she sighed frustratedly,

"We'll be here when you wake up," Obi-Wan reassured, she nodded as Kix pressed the mask over her face and she succumbed to darkness.

**A few days later… **

Esinon blinked her eyes open, everything was foggy, but it smelled like antiseptics and bacta. She wrinkled her noses, she glanced down on her body and grimaced at the number of bandages that were covering her. She glanced over to her right as a soft snore emitted,

"Fives?" she asked in a voice barely above a whisper, she assumed that a few of her ribs were still healing so that's why it hurt to breathe. The ARC stirred slightly in his sleep, slumped in a chair that was not made for a guy his size. "Fives," he finally opened his eyes and shot forward seeing that she was awake,

"Hey- uh- how do you feel? Do you want me to get someone?" he asked quickly,

"I'm ok," she said, "You?"

"You scared me," he said with a sigh, she nodded,

"I know, I saw you throw your helmet," she said, he looked up at her, a look of confusion crossing his face.

"Esinon… you were..." he wasn't going to say dead, "you weren't awake when I threw my helmet,"

"I… I saw them,"

"Who?"

"Your squad, Hevy got mad at me because I almost died the same way he did." she said, "And Droidbait thinks I'm the cutest thing to walk the galaxy, and Cutup seemed indifferent about everything, but he was pretty content on watching me and Hevy 'aggressively compliment' one another. Echo was there too,"

"I… I'm not sure I understand." Fives said, "How could you have seen them, they're all dead."

"I think… that I never really did get over Echo's death. Enough to move past it," she said, "I think that this was the force's way of showing me that he was alright, that I didn't need to worry about him anymore. He's happy."

"That's… sometimes I wish I was a Jedi," he said,

"Here, I'll show you," she grabbed his hand, she'd been practicing with Qui-Gon to be able to bring people into her memories, or 'shoot' memories into other people's minds. She concentrated on Domino and their minds warped.

* * *

Fives looked around and he could see his squad, Hevy, Cutup, Droidbait, and Echo. They were sitting around Esinon as she laid on a couch, debating about what to do with her next.

"They're ok Fives," Esinon whispered, gripping his hand a little tighter as tears streamed freely down his face, "They're ok,"

* * *

"Thank you," Fives whispered,

"Anything for you," she looked up at the ceiling for a minute, "Did Rex take Theta?" Fives chuckled, using the back of his hand to wipe tears off his face.

"No, he told General Kenobi that you already claimed them as soon as you arrived on Kamino." he said, "General Kenobi has already officially instated them as members of the 212th."

"Even though I wanted Delta too, I think that they'll do well with the 501st. I have a feeling you and Tup, and Sharkbait are going to be good friends. Dogma's a little shy, but he'll warm up. Cosmo and Fidget stick to each other like glue, so hopefully, Rex'll keep 'em in the same squad."

"Captain will," Fives assured her, "I'm excited to meet the men you won't shut up about."

"They know about you, and Rex. They liked the stories I told about the 501st and 212th."

"Delta should feel special to get to join the 501st," Fives said, puffing out his chest. Esinon rolled her eyes,

"If I was actually assigned as Anakin's padawan, I don't know if that would have ended so well," she said,

"Will of the force kind of thing?" Fives asked, she nodded,

"There's a reason I'm Obi-Wan's padawan. Anakin and I would have butt heads too often,"

"Yeah, hopefully, everything can go back to a semblance of normal," Fives muttered, she grinned,

"If we're calling death-defying stunts, and a galaxy-blown war normal," she joked tiredly,

"Haven't we always?" she smiled, closing her eyes. Everything was going to be ok.

**That night…**

"Well little runner, you've had quite the week, haven't you?" Qui-Gon said, Esinon blinked a couple times seeing Qui-Gon standing in the doorway. She looked around seeing she was still in the medical station,

"Am I awake?" She asked blearily, sitting up a little bit. Qui-Gon nodded and sat down in the chair Fives had been using earlier in the day. "Last time I saw you when I was awake, I was attacked by a force deity."

"Well, that's not gonna happen this time," he replied, adjusting his robes. "Our bond is stronger than we once thought, we might as well experiment with new things."

"I never got to thank you for going to get Rex, and saving me."

"Of course little runner," he replied, patting her hand, "Now no more death-defying stunts like that,"

"That's what everyone keeps telling me," she mumbled, "Not exactly like I could help it. People act like I was trying to kill myself, no I was terrified when Echo turned on that TV and I saw myself die, it was frankly traumatizing. I'm not telling anyone but you, because you can't make me go see a mind healer."

"I know, I've seen the nightmares,"

"I- Obi-Wan's face. That's gonna stay with me," she whispered, scrunching her eyes shut as she tried to fight off the memories. One moment she had been in the 'afterlife' and then Hevy grabbed her hand and reached through the TV, pressing her hand to her own chest and she came back to life.

"I understand, more than you know," he muttered, rubbing his forehead with his thumb. "And I'm sorry that you had to go through that,"

"Do you see them? The clones I mean," she said, Qui-Gon nodded,

"All of them, make my rounds to see them every few days," he said, "Good soldiers, good men,"

"I miss them," she whispered, "I miss them every day. It feels… almost easier now knowing that they're all happy in the afterlife. That they're safe, that at least after all of that, they can rest."

"And when it comes time, they'll all be waiting for you," he said,

"Do you know when?" she paused, "When I'll die, I mean?" Qui-Gon shook his head,

"No, no I don't. But I know that everything that you have and will do will mark the lives of those around you."

"You make me sound like the chosen one," she chuckled,

"You may not be the one the prophecy spoke of, but you are a Jedi that will affect the universe. I can feel it,"

"So can you see the future too?" she joked, Qui-Gon chuckled,

"No my little runner, I just know you well enough to say so," he replied, patting her knee. She smiled,

"Thank you, Qui-Gon, for always being here."

"Always Esinon, always."

* * *

**I'm gonna make this chapter happy, and kinda silly. Some good Rex and Esinon banter since we've had a lot of angst surrounding Echo. **

**A few minutes later**

**Huh. Esinon's dead. that's... not good. **

**I promise that I did not start out with the intent to make yall suffer.**

**But this can make you feel better: **

***Esinon out of it on painkillers while Ahsoka is visiting her***

**Esinon: ok, let's play two truths and a lie. I'll go first, I _don't _have a crush on Korkie. I have two fingers _at least, _and I get manicures on _Fridays. _Which one's the lie. **

**Ahsoka snickering: What the heck**

** So, uh... sorry about that, but maybe her dying was the only way she could truly move on from Echo's death. Also I am in no means a medical expert, I tried my best and based that scene off of a few scenes I saw in TV shows. **

**Next up let's make this canon corner: ****Esinon reminds Fives of Droidbait, that's why he started to care about watch out for her so much.**

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review!**


	31. Padawan lost

**Thank you for eagle eyes98 for helping me to write this chapter! **

* * *

**A few days later…**

The med-station was boring, but she'd had a lot of time to think and spend time with Qui-gon in her mind. They had been talking about a lot of things, specifically if it was alright to tell Obi-Wan yet. Qui-Gon said if he brought it up, that it would be alright to tell him, but she had to instruct Obi-Wan that he could not tell the council. This was a secret that needed to stay between them. She was nervous to tell Obi-Wan to be honest, she'd kept this secret for so long since she was fourteen. She felt sick to her stomach,

"Little runner, I need you to take a deep breath, before your vitals start spiking," Qui-Gon said, watching the uptick in her heart rate on the monitor next to him. Esinon fiddled with the edge of her blanket,

"But what if he hates me afterward?" she asked,

"I don't think he is capable of hating you," Qui-Gon said, "Obi-Wan will understand, we didn't know how it worked yet."

"But we have known Qui-Gon, we've known for a while."

"It was the will of the force that he was unaware, be grateful the force is even allowing you to tell Obi-Wan period," he replied, she sighed, grumbling to herself in Ewok.

"I don't really think he shares your affinity for the force having its own 'will,'" she said, "He does a little bit, but not to the extent that you do."

"And you," he said, Esinon rolled her eyes, "Don't act like I'm wrong," she sighed,

"Well, you aren't, but not all Jedi exactly agree with you," she said,

"That is why they called me a maverick little runner," he replied, inspecting the end of his cloak sleeve. Esinon slumped on her bed,

"He's gonna hate me. I'm gonna spend the rest of my life in Agricorps." she groaned until she was knighted, she wasn't safe from Agricorps.

"Esinon, we're not gonna go down that anxious path, you have the ability to release emotions so I suggest you let some of that worry go," Qui-Gon said, Esinon sighed, closing her eyes and imagining all of the emotions leaving her body until she had released all she needed to. "You alright now?" She nodded taking a deep breath,

"You're gonna be here while I tell him, right?" she asked carefully, Qui-gon nodded, right on cue Obi-Wan appeared in the doorway.

"Good Morning padawan mine, how are you feeling?" he asked, sitting in the chair where Qui-Gon had been moments ago, Esinon wondered if Obi-Wan could sense him in the room yet.

"I'm feeling better, a whole bunch of my meds end today, specifically the one that makes me sleep all of the time, so that's a plus," she said, Obi-Wan smiled, studying her. She could sense him trying not to frown at the multitude of bandages that still covered her body.

"Esinon, I had a question," he said, scratching at his beard. She nodded,

"Calm, little runner, think calm thoughts," Qui-Gon whispered, she took a deep breath.

_'He's not gonna hate me, he's not gonna, hate me, he's not gonna hate me.'_

"I heard you thanking Master Qui-Gon after you woke up." he said, "And I… I don't quite understand. Did you- I don't-" Obi-Wan rubbed a hand over his beard.

"I have something I need to tell you," Esinon said, wringing her fingers. "Since I was fourteen, I think. I bonded with his kyber crystal and consequently… I bonded with Master Qui-gon," she explained, waiting for Obi-Wan's reaction. His hand stilled on his beard, that's why he could sense his old Master's force signature always intertwined with his padawan's. But how could she bond with him, he was dead.

"I- how?" Obi-Wan asked,

"I- I don't know, I just started having dreams of his memories and then we started talking and it just kept spiraling and I'm really sorry I never told you, but Qui-Gon said it wasn't time and I'm sorry that I kept a secret from you even though we promised to be honest-"

"Esinon, Esinon, slow down, slow down," Obi-Wan said, standing up and placing his hands on her shoulders. "It's alright," she threw herself into his arms, fighting past various wires to get there.

"I'm so sorry," she whimpered, Obi-Wan was a little shocked at the moment, maybe it had to do with the painkillers that Esinon was on, or she was relieved to finally be able to tell him. Maybe both. "We didn't understand how it worked, or what was happening, we should have told you earlier."

"Do you see him… often?" She glanced up at Qui-Gon who was staring at his former padawan with pain in his eyes. Qui-Gon never wanted to leave Obi-Wan, he didn't want to go so soon. It was a sore subject that Esinon tried not to bring up. She and Obi-Wan finally parted,

"It mostly happens when I'm asleep or unconscious, but sometimes I see him when I'm awake." Qui-Gon nodded for her to keep going, "He's here, right now." Obi-Wan looked around, she could feel he was hurt that he couldn't see his former Master. She grabbed Obi-Wan's hand, "Maybe I can try and bring you into our bond." She scrunched her eyes closed in concentration, gripping Obi-Wan's hand tightly. He looked around the room, waiting for something to happen. Suddenly he saw a little flicker of light in front of him, Esinon was concentrating so hard that she had levitated in her bed as she tried to drag Obi-Wan further into her and Qui-Gon's bond. She grunted at the sheer force she was exerting, and then there he was. Right in front of Obi-Wan's eyes was his old Master,

"Qui-Gon," he whispered, his former Master smiled.

"Hello Obi-Wan," he replied, smiling softly. The ghostly form stood there, glancing from Obi-Wan to Esinon who was floating higher off of her bed to keep the bond intact. "She really is quite the marvel." Obi-Wan nodded, too awe-struck to speak. "I'm so very proud of you Obi-Wan, I'm sorry that I had to leave you so early."

"I- I miss you Master," he whispered,

"I miss you too padawan mine," he replied, stepping close to Obi-Wan, placing a ghostly hand on his shoulder. "But I'm always here, if she can do it once, she can do it again."

"Did you teach her all this? Are you responsible for the memory thing?" he asked,

"I know you have a thousand questions, and Esinon can answer them, but for now, this is goodbye. Keep being brave," Obi-Wan nodded as Qui-Gon's flickering image disappeared. Esinon grunted as she fell back to the bed, grimacing as a few of her wounds were jostled. Obi-Wan stared at the spot where his Master had been, her panting filled the room. Obi-Wan turned to face his padawan,

"You're a remarkable little girl, do you know that?" he asked, Esinon smiled, feeling like a nap at the moment. Obi-Wan embraced his padawan, "That- thank you,"

"I can try and bring him back later," she said sleepily,

"I didn't think I'd ever see him again, so that is all I need," he said, releasing his padawan.

"I'm really, really, sorry I didn't tell you earlier. Master Qui-Gon said it wasn't time yet," she explained,

"I understand why, Qui-Gon did always believe in the will of the force. Is that why?" she nodded, giggling. "Now I understand why I could always sense his force presence intertwined with yours."

"It is a strange galaxy we live in," she murmured, from there she explained everything. How it all started, how she could see memories, how her and Qui-Gon's bond had grown, and that's why she had asked for his notes. Obi-Wan hadn't hated her for keeping the secret, he was quite understanding. Esinon knew she shouldn't have been worried in the first place, Obi-Wan was a very understanding person. Master Yoda was right, they made a very formidable Master and padawan duo, and it was because they listened to one another, they talked about everything, there was the kind of trust between them that not many had. A bond stronger than phrik.

**Two weeks later…**

"You all better take it easy with the hazing, these are my shinies," she said, glaring Hardcase, Jesse, and Fives down. Fives shrugged his shoulders,

"This is one of the sole joys I get, not giving it up. I know Hardcase is with me." Esinon sighed, she wasn't talking this down. And all shinies had to go through this. She decided to not tell them that Sharkbait would probably retaliate.

She couldn't wait to see her resourceful trooper get back at her big bad ARC brother. She started to bounce on the balls of her feet as the transports of new 501st troopers came drifting into the hanger of the _Resolute._

Groups of shinies flooded out the transports, falling into the neat lines, standing ram-rod straight. The doors slid open to Rex, who strolled in his position relaxed.

"Captain on deck! Atten-_tion_!" someone yelled, and the shinies straightened even further, which Esinon didn't know was possible. She smirked at how the force was rippling with classic shiny excitement.

She noticed that the veterans next to her had automatically complied with the order. She straightened a little bit, she could hear Obi-Wan in the back of her mind telling her not to slouch. Rex came to a halt in front of the crowd, surveying them.

Esinon decided to tune out whatever he was saying to the shinies while she used the force to search for Delta. She eventually found them towards the back, she was tempted to brush up against their minds but decided against it because it would probably freak Dogma out. She was broken out of her trance,

"Sir, yes sir!" the shinies thundered, she grinned. She noticed a few shinies standing on their tiptoes to see the infamous Captain Rex. She even saw a few helmets tip in her direction, wondering if she was their new Commander.

"Oh you poor shinies," she giggled to herself, "Good luck with Ahsoka," Was Esinon a handful? Yes, yes she was, but she was nothing compared to Ahsoka. Rex finished explaining how they would get assignments to squads.

She was still sad Delta couldn't come and serve with the 212th, but she could sense Sharkbait's excitement to be getting to serve with the legendary boys in blue. Stupid 501st, she had a love-hate relationship with the legion, because all the troopers wanted to serve here because it was the 'cool' legion.

When she was knighted and had her own legion, they were gonna be the coolest legion. Every trooper would want to be with her and she could stuff it in Anakin's face.

"You planning something? That's your mischievous planning face," Ahsoka said, Esinon snapped back from her dreams of knighthood.

"Oh, no, just daydreaming that's all," she replied, then again, she was hoping the war would be over before she became a knight. It would be better for everyone that way.

"That'll be all, welcome to your new home! Dismissed!" Rex called, the shinies relaxed as the Captain left to go talk to the veterans about something. Now was her chance. She headed into the crowd of now chattering shinines who instantly parted as the tiny Commander strutted past. She smiled to herself as she felt the admiration radiate from the shinies, they were so easily impressed. Gah, she loved shinines, they were so adorable. She finally found who she was looking for,

"This is pretty exciting 501st stuff," she said, staring up at Sharkbait, he removed his shiny white helmet and placed it under his arm.

"I thought we were already 212th men," he teased, Esinon rolled her eyes.

"Rex beat me to it. Same thing happened with Echo and Fives," she replied, she lit up when she spotted the rest of Delta coming forward,

"Here comes your favorite, Commander," Sharkabit tased, she knew he meant Dogma. She'd spent the most time with him from Delta, only because she wanted him to connect with his brothers.

"I don't have favorites," she protested,

"Yes you do," Tup interjected, "it's me, I'm your favorite,"

"Keep dreaming shaggy," Cosmo said, shoving his brother's shoulder. Tup pulled off his helmet and sure enough, his hair was in a neat bun on his head.

"Huh, your hair was always a little past regulation," Esinon muttered to herself, thinking about how Tup's hair had always hung in his face. Made Bear mad, but Esinon let it go. It was important for the clones to express themselves.

"So are these the cadets that you've heard so much about?" Fives asked, throwing an arm around Esinon. All of Delta instantly straightened, the ARC grinned at the ram-rod straight shinies, Esinon shoved his face.

"Leave em alone Fives," she said, crossing her arms, "And yes, Fives meet Delta, Delta, Fives."

"Nice to meet you boys, I've heard a lot about you."

"So have we sir," Sharkbait said,

"You can drop the sir, and what all have you heard about me?"

"Only the good stuff," Esinon replied, "You were a good inspiration for them," Fives rolled his eyes,

"Rex would disagree,"

"Well I'm not Rex, am I?"

"You certainly are not Taz," Cosmo's HUD flashed for a moment, signaling that Delta had just received their squad assignments.

"We're with Glacier," he said happily,

"Hey, your sector's right next to me," Fives said, Esinon glanced up at him,

"That means…"

"We're with Torrent company," Dogma breathed,

"Are you responsible for this?" Fidget asked, glancing at Esinon, she shrugged,

"I guess Rex took an interest,"

"Excuse me, are you the Commander for the 501st?" she turned around to see an ARC trooper in 327th yellow, "I'm the new transfer, Bo,"

"I'm actually not the Commander, I'm with the 212th, but I'll take you to see Rex," she said, smiling up at him.

"Thank you, sir,"

"Absolutely, this way," she said, waving goodbye to Delta, mentally wishing them good luck because now they were stuck with Fives. She led Bo down the halls, "So where are you transferring from?"

"The 327th sir," he replied, so she was right about the yellow.

"Darn, you could have told Bly I say hello I'm sure he misses me," she joked, Bly thought she was a little bit too much of a handful. "I'm Commander Windcaster, by the way,"

"It's nice to meet you, sir," they finally made it to Rex's office,

"Well here we are, don't worry, Rex only looks scary," she said, "I'll see you around Bo,"

"See ya," he mumbled to himself as the young Commander disappeared in a burst of speed. So that's why they called her Commander Blur.

**A few months later...**

Plo Koon looked out onto the separatist camp with his binoculars, seeing wave after wave of droids exiting the shuttles that had landed there,

"Droid reinforcements have just arrived." He looked back and forth between the five Jedi that flanked him, "We shall break into four groups to divide their defenses. I'll take the left flank. Skywalker, attack the front gate, Obi-Wan, take the right. Ahsoka, Xavier, Esinon, you scale the back wall, we'll meet in the middle." His orders were met with acknowledging nods and they all stood to prepare for their departure.

Anakin turned towards his regime,

"Okay, scouts, find me a way down there, quiet-like." He emphasized while placing a hand on the shoulder of the small green creatures aiding their effort. The scouts nodded and took off,

"Going over through the front gate isn't going to be easy," Ahsoka remarked, the tornado trio starting for their group of troopers.

"You have it tougher going over that wall." Anakin countered,

"You taught me well. I can handle anything." Ahsoka said confidently, strolling towards Sinker and Boost,

"Yeah Master Skywalker," Esinon said, copying Ahsoka's swagger, and motioning to their infamous trio, "We can handle anything."

"Don't get cocky!" Anakin called after them as the three padawans disappeared into the brush with a selected group of 104th men.

* * *

Esinon slunk through the brush, with Xaiver on her left, and Ahsoka on her right, the 104th men not far behind. A low growl emitted not far from her position, she perked up,

"Hold up, I sense something out there, she murmured, signaling for everyone to stop moving. She could tell Ahsoka and Xaiver could sense life out there as well. The clones from the 104th behind her paused,

"A droid?" one asked,

"I don't think so." She looked around them warily, observing the bugs crawling up the plants around her along with the buzzing of flies,

"Probably just an animal," Ahsoka said, prompting everyone to continue towards their target. Esinon knew the elder padawan was right. It was best not to worry about something like that, they had a mission to do. "Come on, we got to get to that wall."

"Stay alert men," Esinon advised, they crept forward further until they reached the wall, hiding behind the bioluminescent plants of Felucia.

"Skywalker, Kenobi, Tornadoes, are you in position?" Master Plo asked over the comlink,

"Ready and waiting, Master Plo," Anakin responded. Tornadoes, as their Master also now called the trio, had just gotten to their objective. Esinon looked at the walls to see if the droids had noticed them

"We're in position," Ahsoka replied, Plo Koon decided that now was the time to strike, he brought up his comlink to call the tanks behind them,

"Artillery, open fire." The AT-TEs fired multiple barrages with their topside cannons. It was enough to distract the attention of the droids manning the top of the wall, Sinker and Boost made quick work of them. Xavier ignited his emerald blade first,

"Comet, Sinker, Boost, get up there," he ordered. The clones took turns firing their ascension cables on top of the wall and scaling it while the trio looked out for them. The trio split up, Xavier and Ahsoka covering the very front of the wall, as Esinon ventured out a little farther. Since she was fastest if there was some sort of animal waiting to attack them she was the best choice to take care of it. She shifted her feet warily, turning her head ever so slightly, it was enough that she had no time to see the Trandoshan fire the stun net at her.

It zapped her and she groaned as it rendered her unconscious. The Trandoshan stood over his prey, flicking his tongue as he spoke in his rustic tone,

"I can't believe my luck, a Jedi youngling." He dragged her away.

**Meanwhile…**

Anakin, Plo Koon, and the rest of the clones cut through the droids quickly. Plo pushed a gun walker over while Wolffe shot it to pieces and Anakin found the tactical droid, swiftly cutting it in half. He looked to Plo Koon and Obi-Wan.

"The outpost is secure." He then saw the regime Plo Koon had sent with Tornadoes, but he couldn't find any of them among them, "Good job, Corporal. Where are the Commanders?"

"They were covering our flank when we scaled the wall," Comet answered quickly, but he had no answer for where they were now.

"Everybody fan out. I want a perimeter sweep now." Anakin ordered, fearing the fate of his padawan he tried to reach her on his comlink,

"Ahsoka, state your location. Ahsoka, come in. Are you there? Can you hear me?" He looked at Obi-Wan, who tried for his padawan next,

"Esinon, state your location. Esinon, come in," Master Plo was next with the same result as the others. None of their padawans could be raised on any frequencies. Anakin tried over and over but received no response.

"Ahsoka, come in. Where could she be?" He asked himself, "Ahsoka, can you hear me? Ahsoka!" He grew frustrated, worry taking over his thoughts.

**Trandoshans ship, location: unknown...**

"Esinon, Esinon can you hear me? Where could she be?" She groaned as she was awoken by the faint noise of her Master's voice. She slowly sat up and panicked realizing she was in a cell. The last time she had been captured, it hadn't ended well. She pushed against the top of the cage she was in, spotting a green trandoshan flicking his tongue and holding her flashing comlink tauntingly.

"You won't be needing this anymore," he teased, smashing it in his fist and cackling as he walked away. Esinon pushed against the bars attempting to escape, trying not to panic.

* * *

The orange trandoshan stalked away from Ahsoka, she spotted the still form of Xavier a few cells down.

"Xavier," she hissed, trying to get him to wake up. The zabrak stirred,

"Ahsoka?" he murmured, slowly sitting up and holding his head. He finally opened his eyes and panicked seeing he was in a cell.

"Calm down," she whispered, "We've been captured,"

"You can't follow up 'calm down' with 'we've been captured'" he shot back, Ahsoka rolled her eyes, she looked over to another prisoner who had tucked his knees to his chest.

"Hey, what is this place?" she asked, "Who are these pirates?"

"These are trandoshans," he explained, "They're going to release us and hunt us down for sport," Across the ship, out of view from Ahsoka and Xavier, Esinon was asking the same questions, already formulating a plan. Armed with the same information as Ahsoka and Xavier, Esinon figured out that there were panels right underneath her, she figured that when they got wherever they were going, the panels would open, dropping the prisoners. After that, she wasn't planning on sticking around to find out exactly what was going to happen. She was going to use her speed to get as far away from the dropship as possible because she was alone. A few agonizing minutes later, the panels opened up, and as soon as Esinon's feet hit the ground. She was gone, disappearing into the jungle.

* * *

In the chaos of being dropped and sprinting away from laser fire, she and Xavier had been separated. Ahsoka began searching the jungle for the zabrak,

"Xavier," she hissed,

"Ahsoka?" he whispered, poking his redhead out from behind a bunch of ferns.

"Yes, it's me, are you ok?"

"Fine," he mumbled, "But we've gotta find somewhere safe," Ahsoka nodded, as Xavier stood up and the two began surveying their surroundings. The sound of leaves crunching filled their ears as someone landed behind them, both Jedi whipped around to see three young faces.

"You need to come with us," said the young girl. They began to walk up a briar, but Ahsoka was on guard,

"Who are you?" she asked, The girl paused, and turned around to look at Ahsoka,

"We used to be Jedi younglings." Xavier and Ahsoka shared a look before following her through the trees. After they had climbed to the top, they had reached the younglings' hideout. The twi'lek boy spoke up,

"We never stood a chance. They attacked us on a training mission."

The girl interjected,

"We were captured, and brought here."

"Why would they take younglings?" Xavier asked, he thought that was cruel, there was no point.

"Because Jedi Knights are too powerful for them," The Twi'lek answered.

"I'm Kalifa," The girl said, "This is O-Mer and this is Jinx," She said referring to the Cerean and Twi'lek respectively. "Who are you?"

"I'm Ahsoka Tano, this is Xavier Grerum, we were captured during the Battle of Felucia. We're padawan learners." She motioned to their silka, "What's the situation here?" Kalifa motioned for a log,

"You'd better sit down." She sat too, "We were taken by those foul lizards for their amusement. To be hunted, killed, and mounted on their wall as trophies."

"We've been stuck here for more rotations than we can count. No one has come for us," O-Mer spoke up, "I doubt anyone is still looking" He added with deflation.

"Chew on that padawan, then rest" Jinx bit, not looking at her, "You'll need your strength." Ahsoka looked back at the fire and then to Xavier, things looked bleak here… what were they supposed to do now?

* * *

Esinon leaped up onto another tree branch, it didn't feel safe to sleep. Not when she didn't know how many Trandoshans there were, where they came from if other prisoners wanted her dead, or how long she was gonna be here. She decided if she was going to make a plan for tomorrow, she was going to get up as high as possible and try and get some rest.

**The next morning, Felucia…**

Rex approached a meditating Skywalker, "General, we've been over the same area a dozen times, there's no sign of the Commanders."

"Not good enough, Rex, try again." The expression on his face gave away his anger. Rex nodded and continued his search, he was worried about the Commanders whether General Skywalker would acknowledge that or not. Cody and Wolffe were the same way, Cody had been silent for the most part while he and General Kenobi tried to comfort one another. Wolffe on the other hand had been snapping at anyone who got within a klick of him. He was worried about his Wolffe pup as he liked to call Xavier and just had a funny way of showing it.

Plo Koon walked up next to Anakin, "We have alerted our forces throughout the Outer Rim and intelligence assets inside the Confederacy." Plo Koon thought about what would calm him down, "If they're spotted, we shall know about it." Both of the Masters had been doing a considerably better job at hiding their worry than Anakin had, but he was always known to be a little more emotional.

"Good." Anakin relaxed slightly.

"Skywalker, our mission here is finished." Plo said, "We must return to Coruscant."

"I am not abandoning her." Anakin refused, Plo Koon could see through him,

"Your emotions are clouding your judgment." He warned,

"I will not leave her fate up to others."

"It's time to go." Plo wasn't going to let him act out, despite what Skywalker thought, he was concerned about Xavier, but he knew that the little zabrak could take care of himself. Anakin resigned, deciding that this was the appropriate course of action, he activated his comlink,

"Call everybody in, Rex, we're leaving." Then he boarded the gunship along with Plo, and Obi-Wan.

**Trandoshan island, location unknown…**

Esinon had decided it was safest to keep moving and survey from afar. She'd spotted a few trandoshans already, luckily they hadn't seen her. They came out in hover pods, which were too big to follow her into really thick brush. She'd already witnessed a prisoner killed, the man who she had been dropped off with. She felt sick because she could do anything, it was too much like Sarrish, there was only one difference, she could move. She glanced down at her gauntlet where the Foxtrot insignia was painted, her heart clenched, she paused in the tree she was perched in. She shook herself from the memories and forced herself to keep going.

Another thing she had decided was that it wasn't a good idea to engage any of the trandoshans, they had big guns, big hands, and big muscles. She couldn't risk using too much of her speed because she didn't know how long she was going to be out here, and she didn't want to starve to death before someone came for her. At least she kept trying to convince herself that someone would come for her, the thought of abandonment hanging in the air around her. No matter how many times Obi-Wan proved himself of never leaving her behind, some feelings she just couldn't shake. Her past stayed with her, it always would.

After a few more minutes of slinking through the trees, a convor began flitting around her head. Esinon swatted at the bird, stupid thing was going to give away her position as it babbled.

"Shh," she snapped, the female convor twittered louder, wrapping its tail around her finger and attempting to pull her somewhere. "Shut up, you're gonna get me killed!" she hissed, the convor continued to twitter, trying to motion at something, "Do you want me to follow you? Is that it?" The convor nodded, Esinon shrugged, better than wandering aimlessly through the forest.

* * *

Ahsoka jumped down from the tree, landing gracefully on the ground, with Xavier not far behind her,

"Here, lizard, lizard. Come and find me." She taunted the predator she knew was watching her. She heard the low growl and turned around to see a trandoshan lining her up. She used the force to make him miss and then threw him against the trunk of a tree, making him drop his rifle. Xavier lunged for the hunter but was quickly grabbed by the arm and thrown into a nearby tree. Just as the Trandoshan was about to fire a blur hit his head, it was Esinon?! What in the world was she doing here? After a few seconds of Esinon wrestling the Trandoshan, he outmuscled her and threw the padawan into a nearby tree. The Trandoshan walked back over to his blaster and took aim. But he was lifted from the ground, grabbing his throat as he struggled with the force choke.

Ahsoka saw Kalifa and the others behind him, her face was marred with a lust for revenge, she tightened her grip on the hunter,

"Kalifa! Don't kill him out of hatred." Ahsoka ran up to her, trying to soothe her, "It's not the Jedi way." Kalifa relented and released their assailant. Ahsoka rubbed her arm to comfort her.

It wasn't long after that the trandoshan let out his cry for help. The screech reached all corners of the jungle. He got up again and tried to fight them, but Esinon and Xavier flung him into a tree again, knocking him unconscious. The Scipian stumbled a little, looking exhausted, Xavier caught her arm before she could hit the ground.

"Esinon, what are you doing here?"

"Run now, explain later," she panted, Ahsoka snatched the rifle off the ground as they followed Kalifa, O-Mer, and Jinx back to their hideout.

**Later that night... **

Ahsoka and the others were gathered around a fire in their hideout, she was trying to practice with the rifle but she couldn't get it to fire, Xavier had been watching Esinon who was warily watching the entrance, flinching at every quiet noise. Ahsoka knew that all of this reminded her too much of Sarrish, and was trying not to probe about it.

"I don't understand, why won't this thing work?" She asked as she looked down the sights and pulled the trigger repeatedly. Jinx sat up from his spot higher in the tree,

"The Trandoshans deactivate the blasters if we take them. That is why none of us have any." Ahsoka's frustration showed through as she threw the blaster to the side and leaned into her hand. Xavier came over and sat down next to her, placing his hand on her knee and smiling reassuringly.

"It's been a long time since the Trandoshans captured another Padawan and brought them here." Kalifa tried to reassure her.

"Thanks," Ahsoka replied sarcastically

"I didn't mean it as an insult." She insisted, "I meant it as a sign, a mistake on their part. All three of you, your energy, your strength, it's what we've been lacking." She stood up and walked around the fire, "We were beginning to lose hope and forgot who we are." She joined the O-Mer and Jinx on the other side.

"And who are you?" Xavier asked

"We are Jedi," Kalifa responded confidently, O-Mer and Jinx nodded behind her. Ahsoka smiled, her faith renewed, Esinon noticed the scene and finally stood up.

"All right, we need a strategy," Esinon said,

"So, what do you suggest?" Jinx shrugged his shoulders.

"What about a base?" Ahsoka asked,

"Yeah, they have to come from somewhere," Xavier added, the Tornadoes switching into Commander mode. Kalifa turned her down,

"Not that we've ever seen."

"So where do they come from?" Esinon asked,

"Well, we don't know, we've only witnessed them hunting and in their hover pods," Kalifa said.

The Tornadoes knew they had to have some sort of base, they just needed to find it.

"If we are gonna go on the offensive, we'll need to find out where they live. We'll start covering ground tomorrow." Ahsoka said,

**The Resolute, hyperspace…**

Fives could hear someone crying… sobbing. Something was wrong, he sprinted around the trees of the Felucia, pistols in hand.

"Please, stop!" a female voice cried, Fives ran faster he knew that voice, it was Esinon's voice. He burst through the tree line and saw her kneeling in front of an orange-clad clone, holding her abdomen as blood seeped everywhere. There was a dark figure stalking closer to a sobbing Esinon, "Please just leave me alone! I've given you everything you wanted!"

"Except your life," the creature hissed, Esinon tried to move but instantly froze at the sight of a knife in his hand. Fives aimed and fired, the creature collapsed. Esinon's eyes fluttered and she started for the ground, Fives caught her before she hit the ground, gently easing her into the Felucian dirt.

"Fives…" she whispered, looking blankly up at him. Fives was busy at the moment, trying to get ahold of a medic and staunch the blood coming from the large gash in her side.

"Shhh," he soothed, "Save your strength," He swore under his breath, his comlink wasn't working,

"Fives, I'm not scared," she murmured,

"Stop talking like that," he said sternly, "You're gonna be fine," Fives could feel blood soaking through his gloves, sticky and warm.

"Can you promise me something?" She whispered, her breathing staggered and weak.

"Stop,"

"Fives," her eyes were pleading with him as she weakly put a hand over his. "Please promise me you won't be angry, I know you'll want to be," Fives dropped his head, his chin trembling as tears blurred his vision.

"I promise," she nodded, smiling softly,

"I am one with the force…" she never finished her sentence as her last breath escaped from her lips. She went uncharacteristically still, her eyes glassy, a small smile still etched upon her face. She looked so peaceful… Fives was frozen in shock and grief. This was just like Echo, he couldn't do anything, why could he never do anything!

* * *

Fives's eyes whipped open, he was breathing hard, his chest heaving in dry breaths. He sat up, shakily running his hands through his hair.

"It's not real," he muttered to himself, Del shifted in his bunk. Fives's nightmares were getting worse, and Esinon had only been gone for two days. He couldn't sleep, every time he closed his eyes all he could see was Esinon's still form. He needed to hit something, let everything fall away. He started for his armor,

"Where are you going?" Attie muttered, rolling over to face him, "Go back to sleep, Fives."

"I gotta go do something," Fives said, not stopping his task of getting his armor on.

"Fives, I'm gonna wake Coric. Go back to sleep," Attie grumbled, giving him a stern look. Fives glared at him,

"I'm gonna go hit something, and you can't stop me."

"But I can," Del said, sitting up, "Fives what's wrong?"

"I had a nightmare, that's all. I need to clear my head." Fives flipped the straps on his chest plates, starting for his gauntlets.

"About what Fives?" Del probed, Fives had a feeling that his Sargent probably already knew what it was about. The ARC shook his head,

"I'm fine," he replied, strapping his kamas around his waist.

"If you're worried about Commander Windcaster, you've gotta know she can take care of herself," Del said,

"Well you're not the one watching her kriffing bleed out every night," Fives snapped, the ARC let out a slow sigh, sinking into a crouch and covering his face with his hands. Fives sucked in a harsh breath, sitting down against the wall, "I'm sorry,"

"Look, we're all worried about the Commanders," Attie said, "They took _our _Tornadoes, but you need to take a deep breath." Fives grit his teeth, he knew Attie was right, but it's not what he wanted to hear.

"I hate this," he hissed, his hands clenching his fists. "The nightmares are getting worse, and I'm helpless as Esinon bleeds out. And I hate it, because I couldn't do anything with Echo, and now she gets taken and I can't do anything about it!" Del stared at Fives intently for a moment,

"We know about helplessness," Del said slowly, Fives looked up for a moment before scrunching his eyes shut and resting his head against the wall in realization. These were Teth survivors they were talking about. Six men after their entire company had been wiped out, had been pinned down by the Separatists. They probably felt pretty helpless. "We know it's easy to assume the worst, especially when you're having nightmares about it too. But you've got to trust Esinon to come back, just like she's trusted you so many times."

"It's hard," Fives muttered, Attie sat down next to the ARC, wrapping an arm around him.

"I know, but we have to have hope," Del said, sitting down on Fives's other side. His Sargent tapped the Scipian markings on his chest, "Like she would want you to." Fives smiled only the tiniest bit.

"Go back to sleep, all of you," Coric mumbled, rolling over in his bunk. The three troopers chuckled,

"How about you hit things tomorrow," Del said, "And we can all come with you,"

"Deal," Fives agreed, starting to unclip his armor. He finally got to his chest plate, smiling fondly at the Scipian markings, running a thumb over the worn paint. Survival, determination, grace, kindness, and… hope. Hope in the face of adversity. He had promised himself the day he painted those markings that he would never let her down. He would have hope. He would have faith. He would have trust.

**That same night, Trandoshan island…**

Ahsoka jolted out of her vision, looking around, everyone was still asleep, the fire crackling, well, almost everyone. Esinon was sitting at the entrance of the hideout, knees tucked under her chin. Ahsoka could sense the silent distress coming from her friend, she needed Esinon to be focused while they were out here. The Togruta stood up and came to sit down next to the Scipian.

"You ok?" she asked softly, Esinon didn't answer, rubbing her thumb over the Foxtrot insignia.

"I don't know if I can do this," Esinon whispered, "I… I'm a liability. I think I should stay here."

"Esinon, we need you tomorrow. You're the fastest of all of us, you're our hope of getting out of here."

"Ahsoka!" Esinon nearly shouted it wasn't loud enough to wake anyone luckily. "I can't," she whispered, starting to tremble. "It's… too much like Sarrish. I can't do anything, I can move, but I freeze. I'm gonna get someone killed," Ahsoka wrapped an arm around her friend,

"Esinon, I know that Sarrish is something that you might never recover from fully… but you are a survivor. And we can survive this, you know what's different about here than Sarrish?" Esinon shook her head, "We're here, you're not alone. There are six of us fighting together, and we're all going to make it out alive."

"I'm scared Soka," she whispered,

"To be frank with you, I'm downright terrified, but I'm not going to let that stop me. Now come on, we'll need to rest for tomorrow." The Scipian allowed herself to be led back inside the hideout. Ahsoka sat down, wrapping her arms around Esinon, forcing the Scipian to curl up in her side. A few minutes later Esinon had fallen into a deep sleep, Xavier stumbled over half asleep, using Esinon's back as a pillow. They felt safer together.

* * *

**Oh Sarrish always comes back to bite Esinon in the butt. Just to let you guys know, Esinon does have a lot of triggers, nightmares, and general anxieties associated with Sarrish. We don't see it all the time just because we gotta keep the story moving.**

**Phrik is a metal that's basically indestructible in star wars. **

**Loved rewriting that scene of Fives four times. Ugh. Writing will never not be hard. **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner:** **Xavier loves messing around with explosives. He's created a lot of new bombs for the 104th. He's the reason that Esinon knew how to make a Rhydonium bomb on Rishi**

**Thank you for reading! Make sure to leave a review!**


	32. Wookie Hunt

**Shoutout to eagle eyes98 for helping me write this chapter! **

* * *

**The next morning…**

Jinx was reviewing where they had scouted so far for the day,

"We have already covered the beach area and most of the briar on this side of the bay." He sounded frustrated that they had made no progress on finding the Trandoshan base. Ahsoka scoffed,

"If it was easy to find, you guys would have found it before we got here."

"True enough." He surrendered,

"Maybe we should try more inland?" Esinon recommended,

"It's worth a shot." Kalifa agreed, O-Mer glanced upward,

"Guys," he rose from the rock he was sitting on, "I think we're looking in the wrong place." He directed their attention upward as a metal ship came plowing the clouds above, "That's their fortress." Esinon perked up hearing the hum of hoverpods, Kalifa did as well,

"Split up!" Both of them ordered as three hoverpods descended on their position. Esinon took off with Kalifa, O-Mer, and Jinx sprinted off in the opposite direction and Ahsoka with Xavier.

Esinon and Kalifa were running through the treetops trying to lose their hunters. As they jumped from limb to limb the laser managed to hit a branch under Kalifa's feet, forcing it to break under her weight. She screamed as she fell to the floor.

"Kalifa!" Esinon called out, trying to get back to her.

"Finish her, my son, the kill is yours." The trandoshan said to Dar on the hoverpod,

"I will kill her with my own hands." He eagerly jumped off the pod chasing after the struggling youngling through the briar patches. He caught up with Kalifa when he had pinned her in a grove. She used the force to throw him into a trunk and began to climb back into the treetops. Esinon finally managed to struggle her way through the briars, gaining fresh scratches up and down her arms. She kicked the Trandoshan in the chest, sending him into a tree, she thought he was knocked out, but he quickly looked up and shot at the two Jedi.

Esinon jumped out of the way and stood in front of Kalifa, protecting her. Dar tried shooting, but every time he tried, Esinon used the force to move the end of the rifle into the air. Dar decided it was best to brawl and jumped at Esinon, they rolled up the briar before Esinon threw him off and swept his feet. She jumped over him, but Dar grabbed her ankle keeping her from going any further. She strained against his hold and eventually got free of him, they stood on a circular briar, staring each other down. Dar growled to intimidate her while Esinon was looking for any opening she could find. Suddenly Ahsoka dropped down out of the trees, he jumped at her, but she evaded and jumped onto his back. Dar threw her off and towards the ledge.

Dar tried to grab her but Ahsoka grabbed him first, throwing him off the side. He was impaled by one of the briars. He slowly reached up to her as he took his last breath. Ahsoka jumped down to make sure that Dar was dead while Esinon went to check on Kalifa. She wrapped that arm around Kalifa shoulder,

"Careful." They needed to move, Esinon and Kalifa knew that better than anyone.

"It's okay. I can make it." Kalifa assured a red bolt pierced right through her chest, she gasped and moaned as she fell to the ground,

"Kalifa!" Esinon cried, She helped her behind the trees so that the sniper couldn't see them.

"Those Jedi whelps killed my son!" He yelled, "Young Dar!" The Trandoshan fired his rifle repeatedly into the jungle air, "There's no escape! I'll hunt you down!" Ahsoka jumped back up to Esinon, pushing both of them behind a tree, praying the sniper couldn't hit them. Red bolts whizzed past, but none of them hit.

"We have to move," Ahsoka said, grabbing Esinon's shoulder,

"Please, Esinon, Ahsoka, leave me," Kalifa grunted

"I won't," Esinon said, she could still save Kalifa, faster, better, stronger, should have been stronger, should have been stronger, Kalifa breathed heavily,

"You have to." Kalifa said, placing a hand over Esinon's, "Ahsoka, please take care..." She grunted, it hurt too much to continue.

"I'll take care of the others," Ahsoka said somberly.

"I know you will." Kalifa smiled through her pain. Ahsoka nodded and watched as Kalifa took her last breath. She caught her and rested her against the briar.

"I'll kill you! You killed my son!" The Trandoshan fired wildly, unable to hit any of them. "I'll kill you! You can't hide from me!" Esinon was frozen in place, should have been better, faster, stronger, should have been there, should have saved Kalifa!

"Esinon, we have to go, now!" The Togruta said, shaking Esinon, pulling her away from Kalifa's body. Ahsoka took one last look at Kalifa and then ran off to find Jinx, Xavier, and O-Mer. The two padawans sprinted through the treetops, "Esinon! Split up!" Ahsoka shouted, the Scipian obeyed and took a higher route. Ahsoka knew that if she could draw the Trandoshan away from Esinon, Esinon would get herself to safety. The instinctive side of Esinon's mind would take over, hopefully, it would long enough for her to get somewhere safe before she froze up again.

Ahsoka jumped from briar to briar, continually pausing to listen to the Transdoshans she knew were following her. She could hear their low snarls getting closer. She pressed on, trying to evade them.

Running for this long was killing her, she couldn't find her breath. She needed to rest. She crawled onto the underside of a flat briar and clung while she calmed her breathing. She could hear one of the hunters stepping on the briar she was hiding under. His snarl crept closer and closer to the edge as she heard him smell the air, but a hoverpod suddenly came down from the sky.

"Where is she?!" It was Dar's father.

"This one was faster than most, I've lost the scent!" The father growled,

"She can't hide forever. Mark my words, I'll have her hide and nail it to the wall for killing my son." Ahsoka breathed a small sigh of relief as it appeared they would give up, but the hoverpod dropped altitude as they turned around to leave, if they turned around they would see her! She heard the father's nose catch a scent, and she quickly crawled on the side of the briar away from them.

Narrowly avoiding being caught as the Trandoshan turned around. As they left she peeked over to ensure they were gone. She crawled back up and made her way back to the hideout, weighing how to tell the younglings about Kalifa….

**Meanwhile…**

Esinon continued to leap through the trees, letting her body fall onto autopilot, her legs pumping faster, faster, one leap after another, how was she supposed to tell the others? What if Ahsoka wasn't alright? She was the one who had drawn the hoverpod away, that would be another death that was on her. She leapt up to the entrance of the younglings, where O-Mer, Jinx, and Xavier were waiting.

"You made it!" Xavier shouted, pulling his friend into a hug. "Esinon?" He could feel her trembling under his grasp, "Are you alright?" She shook her head, a few seconds later Ahsoka came limping into the hideout. Jinx jumped to his feet,

"You're here!" Jinx exclaimed,

"We feared the worst," O-Mer added, both of them glanced at Esinon's still form in Xavier's arms, and Ahsoka's dejected face and realized something,

"Where's Kalifa?"

"She didn't make it." Ahsoka could hardly look at them.

"She's dead?" Jinx asked, Ahsoka didn't have the willpower to answer him, O-Mer sank to the ground, "I- I can't believe it. She had been here longer than any of us, and now..."

"We're all going to die here, it's only a matter of time," Jinx said, burying his face in his hands. Esinon buried her face further into Xavier's shoulder, the Togruta came over placing a hand on Esinon's shoulder,

"It wasn't your fault," she whispered,

"You know that's not true," Esinon snapped, releasing herself from Xavier's grip, and jumping up to a higher perch in the hideaway.

"If it's only a matter of time till we die, I say we go down with a fight," Ahsoka said, trying to get them riled up. She gave her words extra vigor and looked into their eyes for any sign of hope, but Jinx just scoffed,

"That is suicide." Ahsoka wouldn't give up though. They just needed a new plan,

"You've said that every few days they release new prisoners on the beach." They all appeared curious as to what she was talking about, even Esinon glanced in her direction. "I say we attack that dropship head-on. They'll never expect it." O-Mer sighed,

"Is it worth a shot?" He asked as he looked over to meet Jinx's eyes.

"Maybe it is." the twi'lek replied,

"I'm with you," Xavier said, stepping forward, all of their eyes looked up Esinon. She glanced at them but didn't say anything, before turning her attention back to the forest outside.

"Esinon, we can't do this without you," Ahsoka said, Esinon huffed,

"You guys come with a plan, I'll talk to her," Jinx said, Xavier looked like he was about to stop him, but Jinx was already up at Esinon's side.

Esinon didn't look at Jinx, she kept her eyes fixated on the rustling leaves on the trees outside.

"Kalifa was here when I got here," he said, her stomach dropped, he blamed her. She blamed herself, all of this was her fault. "I didn't come here alone, just like you. My friend, Avi. We were captured during a training mission." Esinon glanced at him, noticing that Jinx was getting lost in old memories. "We were here two nights when the Trandoshans found us… I couldn't save him. That's when Kalifa found me, I blamed myself for Avi's death. I still do, so I know what you're going through."

"I'm sorry," Esinon mumbled, "That I couldn't do more,"

"Know that we don't blame you," he replied, "Don't make Kalifa's death in vain, if Ahsoka has a plan, we'll need your help too."

"What if I freeze up again?" Esinon asked. she knew that even if Jinx didn't know about Sarrish, he probably understood it better than Ahsoka, Xavier, or anyone else ever could. He knew what it meant to survive, and have to carry that guilt.

"You won't know unless you try, now come on, we've got to come with a strategy."

**The next morning…**

They scurried through the briars until they arrived on the familiar sand, they were just on time as a transport was coming through the clouds ready to drop off new prisoners. Ahsoka looked back to her companions,

"Get ready, we'll have to be swift."

"The drop point's not far," O-Mer said they all watched as the bright white light came through the cloud revealing the long cruiser as it slowly set down onto the beachhead. They needed to attack before the ship had it's gun ready. Esinon had steeled herself over, pushing all fear out of herself, and becoming nothing more than a shell of who she usually was.

"Now!" Ahsoka commanded. The five of them jumped through the sands and used the rocky spires to vault themselves up into the air, landing on the front of the ship.

Esinon could see the two Trandoshans point at her and panicked. She made her way for the entry hatch above, motioning for Jinx, O-Mer, Xavier, and Ahsoka to follow her. They waited for one of the hunters to peek out of the hatch when he did Ahsoka, Xavier, Jinx, and O-Mer ambushed him from behind.

"I'll take the pilot!" Esinon jumped down into the open hatch. Esinon found the pilot, he was turned away from and it looked like he didn't know she was there. She slowly crept up on him, her hands raised for when she would leap on him. She saw him quickly turn around, rifle in hand. It was a trap!

She leapt out of the way just as he fired. He kept firing, and she kept jumping, gradually closing in on him until she kicked the blaster out of his hands and got on top of him. She forced his body into the console, unintentionally moving the steering wheel. The ship began to list to the left, the pilot threw Esinon off of him.

He fired his blaster over and over, trying to land a shot. Esinon kept redirecting the blaster away from her but the blasts were tearing the consoles apart. She threw him through the glass window of the cockpit. The impact of hitting the glass knocked him out immediately. Esinon relaxed for just a moment before the electricity from the malfunctioning console zipped up toward her. The navigation terminal was next, it caught fire, sending the ship into a spiral as pieces began to come off the doomed craft. Esinon was trying to save the ship from its spin, she shut off the side thrusters and re-engaged the ventral stabilizers, but it was too late, the ship was beginning to descend.

"Get out of there, come on!" she heard Jinx call as he jumped onto the cockpit.

"But the prisoners! They'll die!" She wouldn't leave them. Another death would not be on her hands. It was her fault the ship was going down in the first place.

"Hit the release, hurry!" He motioned toward one of the buttons in front of her. She could hear the doors open, so she made her way to the hatch, jumping off with Xavier, Ahsoka, Jinx, and O-Mer just as the ship came down. Esinon and the company regrouped, looking at the burning vessel as it left off another fiery ploom.

"Well," O-Mer sighed, "I guess we won't be escaping on that ship."

"We'll find another way," Ahsoka assured him, Esinon stared frustratedly at the wreckage. They had been here for what? Two days? She wanted off of this moon where she was safe. Safer. She was torn from her thoughts as a roar emitted from the wreckage.

"What was that?" Jinx asked,

"A survivor." Ahsoka made her way into the wreck, followed by the other two, "It could be one of the prisoners they were dropping off." A large figure emerged from the smoke,

"What is that?" O-Mer squinted his eyes, the outline was hard to make out. The figure got closer, revealing a species Esinon had seen before,

"It's a Wookie," she breathed, the Wookie roared in affirmation,

**The next morning...**

"Your name is Chewbacca?" Ahsoka asked, making sure her pronunciation was correct. Chewbacca grunted in approval.

"Chewbacca, does anyone even know you were taken?" O-Mer asked, hope lacing his words. Chewbacca shook his head and moaned dejectedly, but then he raised his arms towards the stars and groaned again. Ahsoka could understand him,

"No, but he says his homeworld is very close." Ahsoka translated,

"That's great," Jinx said sarcastically, "but it might as well be Coruscant, as far as I'm concerned. We've got no ship." He stood circling the fire as he talked. Chewbacca didn't like the young twi'leks attitude, he growled, getting up and grunting while pointing at all of them.

"He thinks he can contact his home planet if we find a way to transmit a signal," Ahsoka said.

"Right, and how would we do that? Send smoke signals?" Jinx made motions of smoke with his arms, "We don't exactly have a transmitter lying around if you haven't noticed." Esinon sat for a moment in thought before perking up,

"I think I might be able to build a transmitter from the wreckage," she said, Chewie groaned and growled,

"Chewie says he can help," Ahsoka said,

"Well, we can't just sit here." Xavier agreed, trying to get Jinx on board.

"Fine, we'll do it the Wookiee way." Jinx caved,

**Coruscant…**

Obi-Wan flipped over in his bed, frustratedly pulling the covers over his head.

He sighed, tossing the covers off and headed for the kitchen. He pulled out a box of tea, putting up his mental shields so he couldn't feel Anakin's stress and frustration.

It was like he couldn't remember it wasn't only his padawan who had been taken. All of the Tornadoes had. Obi-Wan hated it. Correction, he hated himself for letting Esinon get taken.

He should have known better, he should have been there. Why was it that he could never really be there for her? When she needed him most, he was never there. That wasn't true, but Obi-Wan wasn't in the best train of thought at the moment. He couldn't sleep because he could sense Esinon in distress, and no amount of meditation could get it to go away.

And Anakin's constant pacing, training, and snapping weren't helping either. He sighed frustratedly, it seemed whenever it mattered, he couldn't protect his padawan. He could keep better track of Anakin and that was saying something.

Maybe because he had already trained a padawan by the time he took on Esinon, he'd gotten lax and reckless. He pressed his forehead to his fists and took a deep breath. _There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the force. _

Deep breath in

Deep breath out

"Esinon, I trust you. I trust you to take care of yourself, and come back to me," he whispered,

Deep breath in

Deep breath out

_There is no emotion, there is peace. _

**Later that night, Wassak…**

They all made their way through the dense underbrush. As they closed back in on the beach Ahsoka held up her hands, motioning for everyone to hold the position. She turned back to them,

"Chewbacca, Esinon, and I will go out to inspect the crash site. You two stay here, and signal us if you see anything." Ahsoka instructed, the three boys nodded,

Ahsoka, Esinon, and Chewie made their way into the open while Jinx, Xavier, and O-Mer climbed a briar so they could see the beachhead more clearly. They watch as Ahsoka, Esinon and their new Wookiee friend crept under the wreck and into one of many openings to the inner hull. Soon a hoverpod appeared above them, scanning the ground with its spotlight.

"Get back!" Ahsoka backed all of them up against the ship's inner wall, "It's a patrol." Chewbacca, Esinon, and Ahsoka made their way through the obstacle course that was the wrecked vessel, "Hopefully that patrol won't be back for a while." Esinon and Chewie started scanning through the wreckage, sifting through different parts.

"What about this?" Esinon asked, tossing Chewie a part, the wookie grunted in agreement before stashing the part.

"What are we looking for?" Ahsoka asked as the two continued to rip parts from the wall. Chewie pulled a battery pack out of the wall, a small zap flicker as he disconnected it. He turned around and groaned at her cheerfully. "Are you still feeling optimistic about making a transmitter out of this junk?" He yelled confidently in reply. Chewbacca was using a flashlight he'd found to look over all of the consoles. He was taking anything that looked operational and putting it into a cart.

Esinon rolled a part over in her hands before deciding it was operational enough to use. Ahsoka observed their collection as Esinon tossed more wires onto the pile, "We better get going.

That patrol might come back." Chewie grunted in agreement, as Esinon nodded. Ahsoka, Esinon, and Chewbacca had just exited the hull, "It looks clear, come on." But Chewbacca grunted hesitantly, "it's okay." She motioned her hand forward, trying to coerce him. Esinon poked her head out, she could sense something. A red bolt whizzed past her head,

"Sniper! Get back," she hissed, shoving Chewie and Ahsoka back. Chewbacca grunted a solid 'I told you so' as they ducked behind one of the engine exhausts. "We've got to hurry before that trandoshan kills one of them." Esinon was picking up speed as they ducked out of the back of wreckage and snuck up behind the trandoshan who was currently strangling Jinx. Chewie grabbed the trandoshan by the neck holding the creature struggling by the neck. Chewbacca sent a powerful knee into the reptile's chest. He wrapped his arms around the sniper's neck as he landed on his knees and started strangling him.

"Wait!" Jinx coughed, "We should take him, prisoner,"

"It's only fair," Esinon said, staring dagger at the trandoshan. the hunter hissed and clawed at Chewie's arms. Chewie nodded and threw him into the ground. He knelt behind and looped the trandoshan's arms behind his back. They all made their way back to the hideout.

**A few hours later…**

"Hand me that power converter," Esinon said, "Don't cross those wires," Chewie roared, "Ahsoka translate!"

"He said he knows what he's doing," Ahsoka replied, Esinon grumbled in frustration,

"Well I'm trusting someone I barely know, so that's why I'm questioning whether he's trying to build a transmitter or a bomb," she growled, Ahsoka sighed and decided to change the topic of conversation.

"How's it looking, Chewbacca?" Ahsoka asked. He growled in anticipation, all he could do was wait at this point, "Will it work?" The transmitter rotated the antenna, slightly higher and sped up the frequency of its signals,

"Well, something's working," O-Mer noted, but he spoke too soon, the transmitter shorted out, sending electricity whirring through the antenna and shutting offline. Chewie growled in anger, as Esinon threw a piece scrap across the room,

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Ahsoka said, grabbing Esinon's hands, "It's alright, we'll get it to work." Jinx was getting just as sick of being here as Esinon was, so he decided to suggest another idea.

"We've got a prisoner. We should be using him to our advantage while we have a chance," he said,

"I thought the prisoner was the backup plan," Ahsoka said,

"It's clear enough that we cannot rely on that device." Chewie glared at him, growling in frustration, "No offense," Jinx held up his hands in mock surrender, "but we just can't sit here any longer."

"We should wait." Ahsoka knew the technical skills of the wookie…this would work if they gave it time, but Esinon wasn't feeling that patient. She was sick of feeling unsafe and plagued by nightmares and the constant fear of not knowing whether she was going to die in the next second. Plus there was barely any food out here, and Esinon was starting to get really, really, hangry. O-Mer sighed,

"I agree with Jinx, we have to act while we have an advantage."

"We need to get out of here now." Esinon said, "And if that means using a hostage, then we have to do it."

"Let's say we do it your way, what's the plan?" Ahsoka asked Jinx had obviously been thinking about this for a while because he immediately jumped to his feet.

"We can use the prisoner to trick the enemy into flying one of their pods down to us, then we hijack the pod, fly up to their base, and take them by surprise."

"Ahsoka, you got us to believe in ourselves again, and, well," O-Mer looked into her eyes hopefully, "I believe Jinx's plan will work."

"Ahsoka, I'm going with them. I'm sick of being afraid, and I want to get off this moon."

"Look, do what you want, but O-Mer, Esinon, and I are leaving with the prisoner in the morning," Jinx said, as the three of them turned around, walking to their sleeping areas. Ahsoka glanced at Xavier,

"It's worth a shot," the zabrak said, "At least think about it," Ahsoka nodded, as Xavier went off to his sleeping spot. Ahsoka turned back to Chewie.

"Their hearts are in the right place." They just needed to learn a little patience….She looked at their new partner, "You know I can't let them go alone." Chewbacca howled, he wanted to keep working on their transmitter, "We're not going to be able to do this without you. We need your help." He growled lowly in response, agreeing with her, "Who knows? Maybe our luck's just about to change." She smiled as her partner let out another growl.

He reset the transmitter and improved the wiring so that it wouldn't short. Then he and Ahsoka made for their beds, preparing for the battle tomorrow.

**The next morning...**

Ahsoka led the group back to the beach for the last time. She turned to face them,

"All right, we better get started," she said,

"Right, time to call your friends." Jinx walked toward the Trandoshan expectantly. The hunter hissed at him,

"I'm not helping you, whelp!" Esinon glared at the hunter,

"Chewbacca, we need him at eye level, please," she said, crossing her arms. Chewie happily obliged, kicked the back of his knees to get him to go down. Jinx waved his hand in front of Trandoshan, trying to influence his mind,

"You will listen to me," Jinx commanded, He laughed at the twi'leks feeble attempt.

"No, I won't." Chewie socked him from the side to stun focused and tried one more time,

"You will listen to me."

"I will listen to you." His eyes narrowed into a trance,

"You were our captive, but now you've escaped," Jinx said, waving his hand again,

"I was your captive but now I've escaped." the Trandoshan repeated, a grin spreading over his face at his 'triumph'.

"You need to call a speeder to pick you up." Jinx reached down to undo his bindings now that he was under control.

"I need to call a speeder to pick me up." the hunter repeated. He pressed a button on the comlink he was wearing and it came to life,

"Smug? Where have you been?" Jinx used the force to influence his mind while he answered,

"I need a speeder to pick me up." Esinon stared expectantly at the sky, and soon the roar of a pod was audible. Ahsoka and the group took cover behind the briars as his partner came closer. Their prisoner looked back at Jinx for confirmation, making sure he was where he needed to be. Jinx gave him a nod. The pod swooped down and came to rest right in front of the hunter,

"Get in. Let's go." The pilot demanded. Smug reached out for his hand and made a motion to get on the pod, distracting the pilot. "Now!" Ahsoka leaped from the trees above, grabbing on to the top bar of the hoverpod and using her momentum to kick the pilot. It knocked him off balance but he gathered himself and tackled Ahsoka into the sand which left the hoverpod spinning out of control. Esinon leaped into action to help Ahsoka with the pilot. While the girls were busy with the pilot, Jinx and Xavier made quick work of their entranced prisoner, and O-Mer jumped into the pod. He fought wildly with the wheel, trying to level out the descending craft.

Ahsoka, Esinon, and the pilot were all circling around each other, gauging each other for openings when Chewie suddenly jumped down behind. He let out a war growl before uppercutting the pilot. He didn't expect the wookie's strength and was thoroughly knocked out before he even hit the ground. Meanwhile, O-Mer had managed to get control of the hoverpod,

"Want a lift?" he asked them, Ahsoka grinned, things were looking up.

**A few minutes later…**

They found the Trandoshan base and pulled up beside it. They could see two hunters who looked very surprised to see they weren't the brethren they were expecting. Chewbacca let out a war howl as O-Mer brought the craft to the loading bay. The two trandoshans hissed at their new company. Jinx jumped out of the pod, kicking the one who hissed in response. Chewbacca followed him, picking the other reptile up and throwing him over the side.

His scream could be heard until clouds covered his form. O-Mer let the Tornadoes off as well before he zoomed away preparing to pass overhead with the gun. The first Trandoshan could see he was outmatched; he bent over and let out his screech for help. Trandoshans around the base came out to see what was causing the commotion.

"Kill them! Kill them! I want their skins!" They could hear the leader say from the balcony above. Two hunters came around from the right side of the base and opened fire upon the group. Ahsoka led them behind another parked hoverpod. Chewbacca lifted the pod and flipped it over to give them some extra cover. The trandoshan that was screeching had stopped and started running over to the other pod.

Esinon saw him before he could make it, "Hey," She nudged Jinx, "let's give him a lift." They used the force to grab the pod and flung toward the group firing at them while he was climbing on it. All three of them took the blow.

Chewbacca ran over to fight one of them who was getting up while Jinx and Esinon moved in on the two still recovering from the pod. A trandoshan aimed a blaster at them, Jinx forced the barrel away while Esinon flipped over him into a leaping kick.

She knocked the blaster out of his hands and started blocking the trandoshan's jabs. Two more reptiles came down from the left side of the base and began running around behind the Jedi, trying to flank them. O-Mer saw them and lined up his pod with their path. He turned on the gun and forced the two hunters to run for cover.

The leader saw O-Mer disrupting his crew and manned one of the stationary guns on the balcony. He wildly fired at O-Mer, managing to clip one of his engines while everyone fought below.

O-Mer knew the craft couldn't stay airborne so he directed it back over the base. Everyone scattered as the pod came limping over the ship and flipping several times as it landed. That distraction gave the Trandoshans the time they needed to grab their blasters and take aim at Esinon and the rest of the group. Their luck had run out.

The leader smirked as the crew surrounded the Jedi, "A valiant effort, little younglings," He hissed, "You will be a prized trophy in my collection." Suddenly, the sound of a ship could be heard closing in on the platform there were in.

Chewbacca looked toward the sky and growled happily as he saw familiar faces. The Wookies howled back at his response. The hunters hopelessly opened fire on the descending craft, General Tarfful and his unit jumped onto the platform and opened fire with their own blasters. Chewbacca took that time to kick over the Trandoshan who had him pinned and get back on his feet. He forced him into a melee while his fellow Wookiees kept the reptilian leader pinned with their gunfire.

General Tarfful grabbed hold of one of the hunters, throwing them off the ship while he struck another in the gut with his knee and stomped his head while he was down.

The lead Trandoshan could tell the tide of the battle was turning in favor of the Jedi and Wookiees as Tarfful let loose his intimidating howl. He ran inside the base to regroup.

Esinon watched as Ahsoka vaulted up into the base with the help of Chewbacca, she continued to fight against the Trandoshans, taking the upper hand for only a moment, until she was attacked from behind.

A hunter leaped on top of her and grabbed her whipping her around himself and into a wall. Esinon landed hard on the ground, she whimpered in pain as she curled in on herself, too weak to fight any longer.

She heard a Transdoshan scream that mixed with a wookie's cry. The last thing she remembered was a big mass of brown fur, and then the world went dark.

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon could hear unfamiliar voices around her, she blinked a couple of times, she was inside an unfamiliar ship, with people she didn't recognize.

"Ahsoka!" She yelled, jumping to her feet, "Xavier!"

"It's alright! It's alright!" Ahsoka shouted, running over to the frightened Scipian, and grabbing her shoulders, "You're safe, we're all safe," Esinon looked around the ship and saw O-Mer, Xavier, and Jinx all curled up under a blanket fast asleep.

"Oh," Esinon muttered, she glanced around and saw wookies and Sugi. "Are we going back to the temple?" Ahsoka nodded, Esinon couldn't help herself and pulled Ahsoka into a hug. "We did it, we actually survived,"

"You doubted me?"

"Doubted myself," she muttered,

"We're gonna be ok," Esinon smiled, tightening her grip on Ahsoka. Over the past few days, Esinon wasn't used to feeling safe, so she was planning on savoring it.

* * *

Obi-Wan shuffled through the crowd of wookies, and bounty hunters trying to find his padawan. He spotted Ahsoka who was already reunited with Anakin and Xavier who was with Master Plo, but his padawan was nowhere to be found. A pair of wookies parted and there she was, smiling and talking to a Cerean and a twi'lek,

"Esinon!" he called, she finally spotted him and came rushing forward, he placed his hands on her shoulders, searching her over for injury. "Are you alright?"

"I am Master," she replied,

"I'm sorry for letting you get taken," Obi-Wan said gently,

"It wasn't your fault. It was your training that helped me survive, so I owe you a thank you. The lessons you have taught me are invaluable. Thank you, Master," she said, bowing to him, he smiled at his padawan. He bowed to her,

"You're welcome, padawan mine,"

**That night…**

"Esinon, are you alright?" his padawan jumped, having not sensed Obi-Wan enter the living room. She probably assumed that everyone else was asleep, she opened her mouth to dismiss any concern but quickly closed it remembering their deal, to be honest.

"Not really, no," she muttered, pulling her blanket around herself tighter, Obi-Wan glanced up at the TV where an old Boonta Eve pod race was playing, he watched a tiny Anakin Skywalker race past. Now he knew something was really wrong, this was the one pod race that she watched whenever something was really bothering her. He came over and sat down on the couch next to her,

"Do you wanna talk about it?" he asked, she sucked in a harsh breath trying to think how she wanted to phrase this.

"Fives asked me once if I was afraid to die," she began slowly, "And I don't think I'm afraid to die, and I already died once and I know what happens after." Obi-Wan involuntarily flinched, he still had nightmares about that day. "I think… I'm more scared of letting other people die." Obi-Wan glanced at her, shuffling a bit closer to her, sensing the tornado of emotions. "I- Jinx and O-Mer weren't the only ones there when we were on Wassak. There was a girl, Kalifa. She… died, because of me." she whispered, pulling her knees up to her chest. "I… I feel like I have all these powers, but I can never control them when I need to. And no matter how much I train, it doesn't seem to matter. Kalifa could be alive and happy if it wasn't for me. I froze up, it was so much like Sarrish, and I got lost in all the memories and grief. I didn't focus like I should have… and I'm feeling like a bad Jedi, I guess? Like maybe Master Yoda was wrong about assigning me so early. Maybe I should have stayed with my clan for that extra two years." Obi-Wan paused, processing for a moment.

"Jedi often feel responsible… for all of the galaxy's failings, because citizens need someone to blame. Jedi are the people who are supposed to keep the peace, and sometimes we can't always control everything. We are people with extraordinary abilities, but that's all we are. People with gifts. The weight of the galaxy was not meant to rest on your shoulders, and it's not meant to rest on mine either. You can't control everything Esinon, as much as you might like to. You've always been trying to prove yourself to everyone, and it's ok to not be 'perfect' all of the time. You Esinon Windcaster, are not a bad Jedi. You have leftover trauma from Sarrish, anyone would after being tortured for a week." Esinon shuddered, pulling the blanket around herself tighter. Obi-Wan opened his arms, "Come here," His padawan tentatively obeyed, relaxing as he wrapped his arms around her. Obi-Wan rested his chin on top of her head, "Do you remember when I first met Xavier?" she nodded, shifting a little closer to him. "The reason you sensed my unease was because my Master was killed by a zabrak of a similar appearance. We all have a past, and things that scare us or make us freeze up. It doesn't make you a bad Jedi, it makes you human. Does that make sense?" She nodded again, Obi-Wan smiled softly, hugging his padawan a little tighter.

"I love you, Master," she mumbled half-asleep in his arms,

"I love you too my padawan," he sensed her tornado emotions slow, and dissipate, it was replaced with a warm and fuzzy feeling as Obi-Wan's mind was flooded with all of Esinon's favorite memories of their time together.

**The next day...**

"It would be wise to let the clones know you're alright," Obi-Wan said, tossing Esinon her coat. "Just be back by dinner,"

"Ok Master, I'll see you later." she said slowly, "Master, will Jinx and O-Mer continue to be trained?" Obi-Wan sighed, rubbing his beard. Half the council was voting to send the two younglings to Agricorps, but he thought it would be best to continue to train the two of them.

"Nothing's been decided yet, but I will keep you posted," he replied, Esinon nodded and started for the door, she turned around one more time.

"Master,"

"Yes,"

"Thank you… for everything."

"Of course,"

* * *

Esinon stepped into the clone barracks, she assumed that Fives already knew she was back, but Obi-Wan knew that it was probably a good idea for him to get to see her. Fives had probably not taken her getting captured well, she started down the hallways, pausing every few minutes to troopers who wanted to greet her after disappearing. Honestly, she was still exhausted, and as much as she would have wanted to listen to Fives talk for hours, she really was planning to go to sleep. She finally made it's Blitz squad's section of the barracks, she was greeted by someone who wasn't Fives.

"You're back!" Attie yelled happily, she yelped as he swept her up in a hug where her feet couldn't even touch the ground.

"Hi Attie," she giggled, returning the gesture.

"Are Commanders Tano and Grerum alright?" he asked, setting her back on her feet.

"Xavier caught a bug and has a fever, but Master Plo is taking good care of him, and Master Skywalker hasn't let Ahsoka out of his sight since she returned so they're both in good hands," she replied, a tired smile crossing her face.

"That's really good news," he said, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Do you know where Fives is?" she asked, scanning behind him for her brother.

"He's in the training room," Attie replied,

"Thanks, Attie, I'll be back later," she said, planning on letting all of Blitz know she was ok. She headed to the training room where she found Fives alone. It was obvious he'd been there for a while because his shirt was in the corner. She hoped that he wasn't doing this many intense work-outs while she was gone. She adopted his habit of obsessive training when she was upset. Bear could testify. It looked like he was finishing up because he was doing push-ups, he always did those last. She used her speed to silently sneak up on him and sit down on his back. "Eighty-seven, eighty-eight, you've got five million more to go," she drawled, laying down on top of him. Fives continued anyway, she grinned to herself, she did this a lot, so it was normal for him.

"Get off of me Taz," he grunted, "You know I'm in a bad mood because Esinon's not-" he stopped mid-sentence and dropped to the floor in surprise.

"Good, you finally noticed," she joked, rolling off of him. Fives didn't say anything, but wrapped her into a hug, holding her tight. She could hear his heart hammering in his chest. "Deep breath Fives, I'm ok," His only response was to hug her tighter. Esinon relaxed in his grip, gently brushing against his mind. She instantly relinquished at the sheer panic that was filling his mind, "Fives? Are you alright?"

"Bad dreams, that's all," he mumbled, Fives's heart was still hammering,

"Are you going to actually tell me what's wrong?" she asked, pulling away from his hug, his hand was still on her forearm. Reassuring himself that she was still there.

"I… I had a lot of nightmares, that involved you," he started slowly, his grip tightened slightly on her arm.

"And," she prompted,

"A lot of them ended with your…" his voice tapered off, she brushed against his mind again an image of her cold, bloody, body flashed through her mind.

"Oh Fives," she whispered, Fives nodded, she pulled him back into a hug. "It's alright, I'm safe,"

"Can you blame me for being worried?" He asked, resting his chin on top of her head. She shook her head,

"No, I…" she shuddered, shuffling a little closer to Fives. Not that she could shift any closer, she was plastered to Fives's chest, she could hear his heartbeat, could feel his chest rising and falling. "It was bad Fives, it was too much like Sarrish." Fives tightened his grip ever so slightly,

"It's alright, you're safe," he soothed, "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you,"

"It wasn't anyone's fault." she replied, "We can't control everything, Master Kenobi reminded me of that. I'm just glad we're together,"

"Oh my little optimist," she felt him grin, she chuckled, "My little optimist is back,"

"What? Attie didn't fill in while I was gone?" she joked,

"Missed you anyways,"

"Not planning on getting captured anytime soon,"

"Good, for my sanity, that's a very good thing," Esinon started to laugh, a real genuine laugh, that she hadn't felt in a long time. Her laugh became contagious as Fives began to laugh as well, both of them held each other tight. At the moment, the war didn't matter, it didn't matter where they would be deployed next, or how they could both lose each other tomorrow. They had each other right now, and that's all they needed.

**That night…**

"Master? Where are we going?" Esinon asked as they raced in a speeder through the streets of Coruscant, heading into the lower levels.

"We're meeting up with Cody," he replied,

"For what?" she asked, listening to the hum of the speeder and the song that was playing on the radio. She tapped her fingers on the dashboard along to the beat.

"It's a surprise," Obi-Wan replied,

"I hate surprises," she grumbled, peering along the rows of buildings. They were headed into Coco town, why he would want to take her here was beyond her. Why they would meet Cody here was also beyond her, all that was down this far was some B-list diners and stores.

"I know," Obi-Wan said, humming to himself. Esinon smiled to herself, it wasn't often she felt this relaxed, or Obi-Wan seemed so at ease. It was a lot of panicked yelling, training, blaster fire, explosions, hurried reunions, careful tending of wounds. Now everything faded to the background, they were simply a Master and padawan out for an evening on Coruscant. Like it was meant to be. They pulled up next to a small diner, where a few troopers in orange were waiting, the Master and apprentice pair jumped off the speeder.

"Verd'ika!" Waxer exclaimed, he picked her up, hugging her tightly. "We missed you!"

"Welcome back kid," Boil said, ruffling her hair as soon as Waxer set her back on her feet. She looked up at Cody who was smiling fondly down at her, he lightly tapped their foreheads together. Esinon smiled, this was something special between brothers. It showed they trusted you,

"So what is this place?" Esinon asked, as soon as Cody pulled away, Obi-Wan was smiling proudly to himself.

"Welcome to Dex's diner, my Master used to bring me here all the time when I was your age. I thought it's time that I do the same with you." Esinon beamed up at him, this was her favorite thing, when her Master did things with her that his Master did with him. She couldn't wait to tell Qui-Gon later, he probably could see it all happening, but he would let her ramble anyways. They entered the diner where waiter droids scurried around tables,

"Someone to see ya, honey!" A droid yelled when they finally spotted the group of two Jedi and three clones. "Jedi by the looks of them!" a large besalisk poked his head out from the kitchen and immediately lit up at the sight of them,

"Obi-Wan!" he shouted happily, "And is that bright eyes!"

"Indeed it is, Dex," Obi-Wan replied, with a big grin on his face, "I thought it was about time that I brought my padawan down here."

"You know me?" Esinon asked tentatively. Dex came out from around the kitchen,

"You think Obi-Wan would get a new padawan, and I wouldn't know about it?" he said, placing two of his hands on his hips. He offered one of his hands out to her, she shook it and his enormous hand engulfed her tiny one. "It is a pleasure to meet you bright eyes,"

"It's nice to meet you too," she said, relaxing slightly.

"His nickname for you is bright eyes if you were wondering," Obi-Wan whispered as Dex guided them towards a table. "Said it was the first thing he noticed about when I showed him the picture."

"A lot of people do," she mumbled, by a lot of people she meant Attie and Echo. They said that the first thing they noticed about her was how bright and lively her eyes were. She slid into the booth next to Obi-Wan, with Waxer Boil, and Cody across from them,

"Have you guys ever been here before?" Obi-Wan asked, Cody shook his head,

"You kidding General? Boil and I come here all the time," Waxer replied, Dex came back, sliding into the booth.

"So what brings you down to visit me?" the large besalisk asked, quiet fell over the group. The real reason they were here was that Esinon had been taken, and it wasn't something they all wanted to think about at the moment.

"I just got back from a trip," Esinon supplied quickly, "Remote moon, can't remember the name,"

"Yes, we're celebrating her return," Obi-Wan added,

"Well welcome home bright eyes," Dex said with a bright smile, "I'll be back with food,"

**Twenty minutes later…**

"Look Master!" she turned to show him what she'd accomplished, which was hanging a spoon from her nose.

"Have you not been paying attention in etiquette class?" he asked, trying to hold back a smile from his goofball of a padawan.

"I don't understand why I have to take those," she mumbled, removing the spoon from her nose. "I'm a sweet girl, and fairly well behaved,"

"No thanks to Waxer," Cody mumbled,

"Hey!" he exclaimed, Esinon snorted,

"Besides, being 'lady-like' is no fun at all." she added, "Girls who don't get to wrestle, I pity."

"Esinon Upahara," Obi-Wan grumbled, she grinned at him,  
"You have far too many brothers,"

"What we're here for General," Boil replied, Esinon smiled. She felt safe, it felt good. It wasn't often she felt like this, and she was going to take advantage of it.

* * *

**And there we go, Padawan Lost is all done. Thank goodness,**

**You want to know how much of a writer I've become? I was watching West Side Story and Riff and Bernardo both got stabbed and died and I was like hang on a minute. You can't die that fast from a stab wound, because they died like instantly. And my writing brain took over. **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: ****Fives has order 66 nightmares of killing Esinon. She's caught him having one, only once. Fives panicked for a minute seeing her covered in blood and blaster wounds, but quickly recovered seeing she was ok.**

**I may write the scene of Esinon catching Fives during the nightmare and put it in this one, or the tornado trio. Depends**

**Thank you for reading! And make sure to leave a review! **


	33. Shock

**A few weeks later…**

Xavier and Wolffe stood in front of the terminal of the briefing room. He was scanning for biosignatures on Aleen so that they could drop off their supplies, but his check-in with Senator Amidala and Master Yoda was to take place any moment now.

"Commander Xavier," Padme greeted, "we've been waiting for your report."

"We've located clusters of life-forms on the planet's surface, Senator," Xavier explained, "There are thousands of survivors." Padme sighed in relief,

"That is good news. The Aleena will be very glad to see you," she said, Xavier nodded with a weary smile. He hadn't slept in a while with the continued missions, all of the 104th men were exhausted. Wolffe interjected, putting a hand on the sleepy Zabrak's shoulder,

"Yes, well," Wolffe sighed, "our orders are to get them on the path to rebuilding and move on. General Plo needs reinforcements as soon as possible."

"Your orders stand," Yoda affirmed, "With hope leave them, but return to the war, you must." Wolffe nodded,

"Yes, sir. We'll start landing procedures immediately." The image of the senator and Jedi fizzed away as he put his helmet back on and started heading for the hanger. "You gonna be able to stay awake for this mission?" Xavier glanced up at his Captain,

"We'll see how it plays out," he replied, they entered the hanger where clones and mechs alike were moving crates of food and medicine between the gunships and into the corvette-class shuttles. C3PO and R2 boarded a gunship along with a group of clones. As the clones boarded, one of the clones forcefully sat C3PO onto some of the supply crates. He recoiled dramatically,

"Must you be so rough?" The clone patted the translator droid on the shoulder,

"Oh, you think this is rough? Wait till we get to the surface." He walked off and held onto one of the grips.

"Leave 'em alone Wildfire," Xavier mumbled, grabbing onto the grip.

"Sir yes sir," Wildfire replied, giving Xavier a mock salute.

"Traipsing through a natural disaster zone is not my kind of diversion, R2," C3PO looked down at his partner to see him spinning in mockery, "Well you may be game for an adventure, but I certainly am not."

"You'll be fine Threepio, it's not an active warzone," Xavier replied, as the gunship pulled out of the hangar. Boost came over and slapped the back of the golden droids shoulder,

"Suck it up shiny."

"That will leave a mark," C3PO complained, As the platoon made for the surface of the planet, a lone Aleena riding a flying insect pulled up beside them,

"Kazabanee!" He yelled ecstatically in greetings. The Aleena took off in front of the gunships motioning for them all to follow. Warthog watched the scene as he piloted his gunship,

"Great," He sighed, "It's gonna be another one of those planets." He directed his gunship to where he had seen the Aleena descend. As the platoon landed, the 104th began unloading the crates of supplies as Xavier and his entourage met with the leader of the settlement. Nine small Aleena approached the, but one with a headdress stood out among them. He crossed his arms before the discussion began, and the leader stepped out to greet him.

"Hiro ra mak tik, shi faa zee Manchucho." He said waving his staff in the air excitedly, "Su top pik gee poshi-ne, teep?" he finished with his arms wide open in embrace. Xavier was too tired for this,

"Alright, who packed the translator droid?" he asked, forgetting that Threepio had been on his gunship.

"Hello! Hello!" The golden droid waved from behind a clone carrying supplies, "I'm here, Commander." He walked up toward the Aleena, thrilled to meet the species, "Oh, hello, um…Hiro, de treepo pan Repabolic. De poshi-ne su teep." The leader ran under C3PO and hugged one of his legs, "Oh, my, a local custom I suppose. Interesting." He let go and started dancing around, "Kana do, kana do, teep teep! Su faa zee Manchucho. Mak tik poshi-ne." Xavier glanced from the Aleena to Threepio,

"Uh… did you get all that?"

"Certainly I did. Commander Grerum, you have the honor of meeting King Manchucho," C3PO chuckled at Manchucho's exaggerated wave, "His message simply put is, welcome to our disaster. Glad you could come." Wolffe snorted, Manchucho turned to address the Aleena behind him,

"Su top pik gee pan kana aneema! Ratingda hota thrit rish ata!" He bounced as he spoke. C3PO translated for Xavier, "They will save us and feed our stomachs. The gods below will know peace once more." The Aleena cheered and chanted behind him as he talked, "They are expressing gratitude, Commander. The chant I a rather flowery way of asking, 'What's for dinner?'" Wolffe snorted again,

"How bout I leave you with them, you seem to like them very much." Xavier teased,

"Shut it Wolffe pup," Suddenly the ground began to shake, the clones, C3PO, and Aleena all struggled to find their footing.

"Commander" Xavier's comlink buzzed, "We're experiencing some settling from the original event. It's to be expected." Xavier nodded,

"An aftershock everyone." The Aleena stirred in panic, C3PO tried to calm them,

"Uh, no, no, please remain calm. I repeat uh, kata om teep. Kata om teep." Soon enough the ground stopped shaking. The Aleena shared glances between one another, then broke out into wild applause for their golden savior. "Oh, well, yes yes yes, Thank you. It wasn't actually me but thank you anyway."

"Trooper squads," Xavier turned to his men, "Scan for unstable ground. Mark unsafe areas." They scattered to carry out the order, "Let's get these cans unloaded!" The guns and landing shuttles dropped their loading platforms as clones and mechs alike brought waves of supplies down to the surface. Wolffe and Xavier walked with the Aleena and C3PO to explain their role in their restoration, though he was talking more to C3PO than to the Aleena. "Access and repair of their mainframe computers is job one. The R2 unit has uploaded the Republic's reboot manuals with instructions on how to make the equipment we're leaving operational." C3PO relayed the information,

"Ping, koso san koko to mana shey-bui." The Aleena gathered around him eager to hear what he had to say, "Artopey pik top gata Repabolic, myo na awa fan jeezzy." Manchucho raises his staff toward the droid,

"Kana do! Kana do! Do rish za nya?" The others nodded in agreement with his question.

"Do awanee. Do awanee." C3PO responded. The group all asked the same question,

"Rish za nya? Rish za nya?" C3PO turned to Xavier,

"They are asking if we 'would make peace in the ground.'" Xavier smiled at them,

"We're good, but not that good," He turned and called one of his men, "Sinker." The sergeant rushed over with Boost,

"Commander?"

"Take your team, the R2 unit, and a couple of Aleena to the mainframe station," Xavier pointed to the building in ruin with a large dish on top. "Let's get them back online."

"On it sir," He addressed Aleena, "All right little fellas, let's go."

"You've grown up," Wolffe remarked, he was right. Wolffe remembered the firstly shy youngling who'd gotten increasingly more loud as he warmed up. The kid had no idea how to be a Commander and had asked a thousand questions. Xavier hummed,

"That's what happens when time passes," he joked, Wolffe rolled his eyes,

"You know what I mean," Xavier nodded,

"You're part of the reason for that, you taught me how to lead. Guess what I'm trying to say in too many words is thank you,"

"You're welcome kid," he said, Xavier's comlink beeped.

"It's Jade," he'd managed to get a transmitter out to his sister so they could stay in contact, "I've gotta take this, can you handle all of it while I'm gone?"

"Remember who taught you how to be a Commander kid," Wolffe grumbled, Xavier rolled his eyes,

"I'll take that as a yes, I'll try to make it quick but Jade's a chatterbox."

"Guess it runs in the family," Wolffe said,

"Hardy har, I'll be back in a minute," and with that, the young Zabrak disappeared around the corner to answer his sister.

**A few minutes later…**

Wolffe and Xavier patrolled the market square, his helmet tucked under his arm while he told C3PO and Manchucho the details of the operation,

"We've marked out areas for a temporary hospital and a communal kitchen there," Wolffe pointed to a group of tents being put up. C3PO looked down to King Manchucho to explain,

"Do fata ura-to do-ra-ta za aneema." Manchucho shook his head and held his hands up,

"No-te! Some ree tee, some ree tee. Hi do pata rish mee-o,"

"The Aleena feel great shame," C3PO said, "He is saying, first, peace must be restored." He struggled to interpret the next phrase Manchucho has spoken as the king tried to aid him by pointing at the ground. "We must go inside- uh, under, inside." Manchucho shook his head at 3PO's translation, "He says no to the kitchen."

"This is a relief mission," Wolffe huffed at them,

"Maybe they don't allow public eating," Xavier suggested, Manchucho interrupted them,

"Po neeta soong meetee, soong meetee," He began bowing to the ground in worship, "hi do pata rish mee-o." Wolffe rolled his good eye,

"Do I need this?" he asked, Xavier shot him a look. The rest of the Aleena followed suit with their king,

"Hi do pata rish mee-o, hi do pata rish mee-o." Wolffe looked at the ritual, he didn't have time for this,

"Here's how it is, my orders are to deliver supplies and reestablish power and communication systems. Report back to the transport the moment that R2 unit has completed the download." He put his helmet back on his head and left the Aleena to continue chanting. "Tell them we'll be out of their hair in no time."

"Splendid, a firm hand," C3PO said, "Well done Captain, if I may say, well done."

**A few hours later…**

"Where is that blasted droid?" Xavier grumbled as the Aleena continued to yell at him in a language he couldn't understand. It was like when Esinon was younger and she would forget she needed to speak Basic for everyone to understand her. He rubbed his temples, "Boost! Do you know where Threepio is?"

"No sir, Sinker, and I will go look for him," the soldier replied, grabbing his brother's arm and dragging him off.

"Commander!" Sinker yelled, "We found him!" Xavier made his way to their position and peered over the crater. "Ey Shiny! You two finished with the repairs on the computer system?"

"My good sir, you may not realize it, but we have been on quite an adventure," Threepio replied happily,

"Really…Quite an adventure, huh?" Sinker drawled, the golden one was always being dramatic, "Get a load of this one," He said to his men. The Aleena were jumping with joy around the droids, clearly, they had just gotten distracted,

"Come on Threepio! We're leaving!" Xavier shouted, he turned to head back towards the camp. "I need a nap,"

"I'll cover for you," Wolffe replied as they both climbed into the gunship. The Zabrak gave a nod of thanks, Manchucho followed behind them as they were boarding,

"Do rish za nya! Kana do! Kana do!" C3PO turned to speak,

"You are most welcome, Your Majesty," He could see Xavier and the other clones turn around to board the ship, "Just doing our job in service of the Republic." He inched backward, not to be left behind.

"Threepio! Come on," Xavier snapped,

"I am coming Commander," the droid replied, tottering into the gunship all while arguing with his astromech friend.

"No, R2. I will tell the story. No one understands you anyway." C3PO and R2 both boarded the vessel, R2 whirred in disagreement. "It's only proper. I am the one who solved the riddle. I should be the one to relay the story." Wolffe and the others huffed as the two droids bickered…this ride was carrying two droids too many. C3PO continued as Wolffe shook his head, "I will of course report on your individual heroics. Do you think Senator Amidala will hold a state banquet...oh dare to dream R2, dare to dream." Wolffe tuned them out and turned to Xavier,

"As soon as we rendezvous with Master Gallia, we're offloading those two…"

"I couldn't agree more," he mumbled, rubbing his temples. Who thought a relief mission could be so exhausting?

**A few months later…**

"As we all know the Festival of Light is happening in four months. This morning we received a transmission from Quinlin Vos regarding this matter," Master Windu said, the council chamber darkened and a hologram of Quinlin appeared,

"Masters- I was right. Cad Bane is planning to attack the Chancellor but is not planning to do so until the Festival of Light. It's a long term, complicated plot. He's looking to hire someone to help him, I've attached a list of ten people he's considering." Obi-Wan rubbed his beard, the Chancellor wasn't his favorite person in the galaxy, but he had a duty to fulfill. "This is an inside job, whoever you pick needs to be a good shot, and knows how to sway someone with words-" the hologram of Quinlin looked behind him, he gave a quick salute and the transmission cut out. The lights came back on and the room stayed in silence.

Obi-Wan's stomach flipped, four months. Four months of undercover work. He knew it had to be him, but he was really wishing that it didn't have to be. Obi-Wan glanced at Mace to confirm his suspicions. The Master didn't look at him immediately, he stared at the floor before slowly nodding his head. Obi-Wan swallowed hard, he really didn't want to do this.

"Holy kriff," Master Fisto murmured,

"We can't take him away from his padawan," Master Allie said, "Esinon needs continued training,"

"She will continue to be trained," Mace said, rubbing his hands together. He wasn't very comfortable with this plan either.

"We don't have a choice," Master Mundi interjected, "If we don't save the Chancellor the war could be over as we know it." Everyone began to bicker, their voices growing louder and louder as Obi-Wan's dread grew.

"Do I have any say in this?" he asked, looking up from the ground. The room silenced, he tried to force a smile but failed miserably. "How do you know I will even be able to complete the mission?"

"Die you will, and take on Rako Hardeen's face." Master Yoda explained, Obi-Wan's heart clenched,

"How?"

"Hardeen has been hired to shoot you down. Once this has happened, you'll take a vital suppressor. You will be dead to the galaxy." What would Esinon think? What would happen to her? He knew Anakin wouldn't be happy, but he was an adult and could take care of himself. Esinon was still a girl. Would the 212th get taken out of service? Would they hear of his 'demise?' Probably, when a Jedi died, word traveled fast. Four months was a long time to be away from everything.

"What if I say no?" Obi-Wan asked, he wasn't one to usually argue with the council, because he was Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Jedi Order's poster child and a poster child doesn't argue with the council.

"Do this you must, for the good of the order." Master Yoda said,

"For the good of the order?" Master Gallia snapped, "You've all become political, caring more about petty politics more than morals!"

"Says the diplomat," Master Kolar shot back,

"_Excuse me_," she gasped, the voices of argument rose higher and higher as Masters turned against one another, and Obi-Wan resisted the urge to shrink into his seat.

"IF," Obi-Wan's voice silenced everyone, "If you promise that both my padawan and my men are cared for, I will take the mission."

"I can take Esinon on as my padawan while you are away," Master Fisot offered, Obi-Wan nodded, that's who he would have chosen anyways. Esinon looked up to Master Fisto as a father, she would be happy there.

"The 212th will be put on extended leave until you return. Esinon will go on missions with Master Fisto, and that will be the end of that." Master Windu said, "This meeting is adjourned," the council room doors opened and everyone filed out. Obi-Wan stayed in his seat, trying to take everything in.

"Worried you are," Master Yoda said, "Concerned for you padawan,"

"Yes, well I've never left Esinon alone for this long," he replied,

"Not alone she is, has Skywalker, Tano, and Fisto to watch her."

"I know, I know, I just…" he kept the last bit to himself, '_I don't want her to think I've abandoned her,' _

"Learn to let go she must, far too attached she is," Master Yoda replied, "Cares for others she does but is not willing to let them go." Obi-Wan disagreed, Esinon loved people. He thought it was one of her best qualities, how she saw the best in everyone and tried to love them despite their failings. "Learn this through your death she must." Obi-Wan sat up a little more,

"You're testing her?"

"Kill two birds with one stone we will," and with that, the small Master left the room. Obi-Wan sat back in shock, placing a hand on his forehead, sometimes he really wished he had left the order when Satine asked him to. He was in too deep now to turn back,

"Esinon, please forgive me," he whispered,

**That night…**

"Master, are you alright? You've been quiet," Esinon said, fiddling with some code for an update on Spinner. Obi-Wan glanced at her from the spot he had just been staring at on the wall.

"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing, just lost in thought I suppose," he replied,

"Master, next week, there's this small festival that's happening here on Coruscant. Korkie and Duchess Satine are going to be there, and I thought it would be fun if we all went together." Esinon said, Obi-Wan froze for a second. He was going to die tomorrow, he wouldn't be able to go to that festival.

"Uh, next week?"

"Yes, do we have something scheduled then?" she asked tentatively,

"Well, we can see, I can't say we won't be deployed, but if it works out for us to go, I don't see why not," he said, forcing a smile. Esinon grinned,

"Great! I'll go tell- no one because I'm going to bed," she said quickly, "Goodnight Master, I'll see you in the morning,"

"Goodnight padawan mine," he said, watching her leave for her quarters. He was feeling more and more anxious with every passing minute, he didn't know if he could do this. He had to, he had to, for the good of the Republic. But how could he do this to Anakin? To Ahsoka… to Esinon?

**The next night...**

"What's the big rush?" Anakin asked as they walked back towards the temple.

"The council has called another emergency meeting," Obi-Wan said, Anakin sighed,

"I can see it now, another long boring debate." Ahsoka laughed,

"Would you rather they call you in to teach younglings?"

"Are you crazy?" Anakin asked,

"Yeah, they would probably all be reckless and destroying within the first five minutes." Esinon joked,

"Well I'd like to see you try Speedy," Anakin huffed, she laughed, a blast came from above, all the Jedi ducked, running for cover. More fire rained down upon them, Obi-Wan guarded his face as another shot came dangerously close to him,

"Did anyone see where that shot came from?" Ahsoka peeked around her box,

"A sniper, I see him up there," she said, pointing a finger,

"Alright, here's the plan. Anakin, you flank him on the right, Ahsoka you on the left, Esinon cover the lower streets, I'm going after him." they all gave a firm nod in agreement, before taking off. She ignited her lightsaber, bobbing and weaving through the people in the lower streets, keeping her eyes glued on the sniper. He disappeared in a cloud of smoke,

"I lost him, does anyone have eyes?" she asked into her comlink, shifting her gaze around for the assassin. She caught the sniper too late, he fired a shot. A pained yell echoed through the streets from her master, he stumbled over the edge, crashing in a whole bunch of boxes.

"Master!" she cried,

"Obi-Wan!" Anakin yelled,

"I got him, go!" Esinon shouted, running over to her Master. She pushed away the boxes, "Master! Master are you alright?" she yelled pulling his body from the boxes, his breathing was staggered and weak. She could see red staining his cream robes, blood. His body lay on top of her knees, she held his head, he lifted a hand brushing some of her hair out of her face.

"I'll always… be with you," he whispered before he gave his last breath. She felt their bond shatter, the warmth, the kindness, it was gone. All of it. She'd felt darkness before, but not like this. This was cold and empty, and numb.

"Master? Master! Obi-Wan! Please!" she sobbed, pressing her forehead to his, "Don't leave me," Anakin jumped down,

"How is he?" she looked up, tears streaming down her face, she opened her mouth to speak but all that came out was a strangled noise that fell somewhere between a sob, a gasp, and a scream. He knelt down,

"Obi-Wan?" he shook his former Master, "Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan!" Anakin's screams echoed through the streets, police swarmed the area, and paramedics arriving a few moments later.

Esinon didn't move, she just sat uncharacteristically still, staring down at her blood-covered hands and robes. The blood of her Master was now all over her body.

She was vaguely aware of Master Windu and Fisto arriving, of Anakin yelling and struggling, or Obi-Wan's body being removed from her arms, of Ahsoka sobbing.

Everything fell into an automatic response, as Master Fisto gently brought her to her feet and guided her into a ship. She wasn't sure where Anakin or Ahsoka were, but she didn't have the strength to worry or ask.

The next thing she was aware of was Master Fisto's apartment. It smelled familiar. Like caf and seawater. A stark difference from her own apartment where everything smelled like honey-lemon tea, and starfighter grease.

She sat down on the couch, her back straight and stiff like she would have as a youngling when she was about to see Master Windu or Master Yoda.

As her eyes shifted around the apartment she spotted a photograph of her and Nadar from when she was about five. Suddenly she was really wishing Nadar was here.

Her first tangible experience of a brotherly figure… well other than her Ewok brother on Endor. She missed him sometimes, he'd been the only one in their tribe who wasn't scared of her.

She was missing a lot of people all of a sudden, maybe to distract herself from the fact that her Master was dead.

**The next morning…**

She didn't remember falling asleep last night, but she woke up in Master Fisto's apartment, still on the couch.

"Yon kri tas, are you hungry?" Master Fisto asked softly, seeing she was awake. Esinon shook her head, "You should really eat something," he sat down on the couch next to her,

"'M not hungry," she murmured, her throat clogged with unshed tears.

"Please, you really should eat something," he coaxed, she didn't eat dinner last night to his knowledge. Shock had set in quickly on Esinon and she just couldn't seem to shake it. She looked up at him with a blank stare, her eyes sullen and sad, "Ok, we'll try again later." He passed her a cloak, Esinon knew that the funeral was tonight. Except she didn't know what was happening over at the Senate building where she had just been promoted to General of the 212th legion.

"Can I go back to sleep?" she asked, Master Fisto, sighed, nodding his head. Esinon pulled the blanket back up over her head,

"Sleep well yon kri tas," he said softly, rubbing her shoulder. A few minutes later there was a knock at his door, he stepped outside to find Master Windu.

"How is she?" he asked, there weren't many people in the temple that Master Windu showed great care for, but Esinon happened to be one of those people.

"She still hasn't come out shock," Kit reported, "Doesn't want to eat, only wants to sleep," Mace sighed,

"I'll see what I can do," Mace said, silence fell over them both for a moment.

"Do you… think we're doing the right thing?" Kit finally asked,

"Killing a Jedi was the best option we had, Esinon's tough. She'll survive." the elder Master replied, Master Fisto nodded, now was not the time to be having doubts. Besides they were in too deep to pull back now.

**That night…**

Esinon stood quietly among the other Jedi, she didn't cry, that wasn't the Jedi way. The only noise in the room was the weeping of Duchess Satine. She glanced over at Anakin, neither of them had said a word since it happened.

She stared at her feet, her cloak covering them slightly. No one saw, but Korkie was gripping her hand tightly the whole time. She just wanted to leave, so badly. Her Master's body descended into the ground, a yellow beam of light shooting up into the ceiling.

Her Master had been given the honor of being buried in the temple, he deserved it, for all of his heroic actions. Her mind was retaken from her former Master when her eyes fell on Master Fisto. Her whole life had changed in an instant, she was padawan of Kit Fisto and acting General of the 212th.

A few Jedi came and paid their respects to Esinon before she ducked out.

"Esinon!" someone called her name, she turned to see Duchess Satine who had come from Mandalore to the funeral. She paused waiting for the Duchess to catch up. "I'm so sorry about Obi-Wan, he always spoke very highly of you." Esinon didn't feel like talking, the Duchess handed her a slip of paper, "This is the frequency to my personal com channel if you need someone to talk to." she pocketed the paper, "He was very proud of you, and the woman you've become." Esinon bit back tears, keeping her composure,

"Thank you Duchess." she said bowing slightly, "I have to go, I have… uh… some pressing war matters to attend too with the 212th. I'll contact you later." She turned to leave but Korkie wrapped her in a hug, he didn't say anything, because he didn't need to. She gripped the back of his cloak tightly trying to keep all the tears from escaping, she finally let go and walked away as fast as she could.

Now she had to deal with the considerably more difficult task of telling the 212th… their General was dead.

She walked down the hall towards the hanger to get a speeder to go to the clone barracks. She didn't feel like running, she didn't feel anything. Just numb, only numb. She finally got to a speeder and sped towards the clone barracks.

She parked outside, but paused for a moment, her emotions surging. Everything was setting in, her Master was dead. The man who felt more like a father to her, than her biological father ever did, was dead. She sucked in a harsh breath, feeling a few tears slip from her eyes.

How was she supposed to tell Cody? The entire 212th that their General, their brother-in-arms, was gone. She was finally coming out of shock, and everything was coming crashing down.

She needed to get off this speeder, she needed to walk into the clone barracks, and she needed to tell her men everything. So that's what she did, she put on a brave face and kept marching.

They probably thought it was just another training exercise since she'd told them to meet in the training room. The Jedi Council had yet to announce anything to the public, but if she turned on the TV she would find images of herself holding her Master's body.

Soon cameras would be shoved in her face trying to get a glimpse at the GAR's newest and youngest General. She wasn't looking forward to that. She wasn't one much for the public eye.

She marched her way down to the training room, pushed open the door, and froze at the entirety of the 212th standing before her. She suddenly felt very, very, small. Cody smiled softly at her,

"Hello Commander," he greeted, Esinon's stomached did a flip, and she swallowed, hard. She could only manage a small wave, as she resisted the urge to phase through that door and run. But Obi-Wan wouldn't have wanted her to run, he would have wanted her to be brave. She would do this for him.

"I… I have something to tell you guys, you might want to sit down," she said slowly, swallowing down another bout of tears and sobs. The troopers of the 212th looked at each other before slowly sitting down. Esinon shifted from foot to foot, "Yesterday, General- Obi-Wan… was killed in action." Cody's heart dropped, it couldn't be, not Obi-Wan. That man has survived so much, "We were walking back to the temple, and- and there was a sniper." Esinon chin quivered, as she bit her lip staring at the shocked faces of her men.

"Did they catch him?" Push asked in between shaken breaths, Esinon shook her head, wringing her fingers. She hurriedly wiped at the welling tears in her eyes,

"I've been… reassigned as General." Those words felt strange coming out of her mouth, "Cody… you'll go back to being Commander, and…" She wanted to tell them that everything would be ok, but she didn't know how to convince people they would be ok when she wasn't ok. Cody saw how Esinon's kept wiping at her eyes and decided to do what was best for everyone.

"Dismissed," he said, the 212th troopers helped each other to their feet and out of the room. Esinon shifted out of the way of the doors, off to the side. Soon it was only her and Cody left into the room. Now she didn't bother to cover up the tears, she was staring at the ground anyways. The tears dripped off her face to form a small puddle on the mats. "General?" she fell into his arms sobbing. Cody hugged the small girl tight, he didn't say anything, he couldn't think straight. Esinon went limp in his grip, her chest heaving with sobs.

They both sank to the ground. Now that it occurred to him, this was probably one of the first times that Esinon got to cry, really cry, grieve Obi-Wan's death for the first time. He could feel anger bubbling up inside of him, that he had to see Esinon like this, that Obi-Wan was dead, that his entire life was turned upside down in an instant. He hugged Esinon a little tighter as her heartbreaking sobs continued,

"I-I failed!"

"Don't blame yourself," he whispered, trying to comfort the sixteen-year-old in his arms.

"I-if I was faster, and s-stronger I could have saved him!" she punched the ground weakly with her fist.

"Don't you dare say that General Kenobi would have never wanted-"

"P-please don't," she whimpered,

"Shhh, I have you, I'm right here." he attempted to soothe, but Esinon couldn't stop the words from spilling from her mouth.

"But what about when you're not here?" Cody paused for a minute, in shock from the words.

"I'm always gonna be here," he mumbled,

"Echo, Gregor, my mother, Obi-Wan, what if you're next?" she moved closer, hanging onto Cody for dear life, almost seeming afraid he would disappear right in front of her eyes. Every single life she had ever lost seemed to crash down upon her, every single person in her life who she had never grieved was grieved for right there, and Esinon was drowning.

The sobs and wails of failure and grief slowly subsided to small choked breaths, and then to soft snores. Cody carefully picked Esinon up and headed towards the mostly empty common room. He set her down in a chair, grabbing a blanket to cover her up.

"Cody, what's wrong?" Rex asked, glancing up from his datapad at the padawan sleeping in the chair not far off. Cody didn't say anything, he grabbed the remote turning on the TV, the holoprojector flickering to life. A male human new anchor, sitting in front of a desk. A picture of Obi-Wan in the corner of the screen. "We interrupt this regularly scheduled broadcast to bring you this breaking news," the screen flipped to a female twi'lek reporter standing in front of the Jedi temple.

"The rumors have been confirmed. Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi was indeed killed as of twenty-four hundred hours Coruscant standard time. He was shot in the chest by an unidentified bounty hunter." Rex placed a shaking hand over his mouth,

"It can't be," he murmured, it seemed a lot of people were saying that recently. The camera flipped to grainy, raw footage of the chase, Cody could barely make out Skywalker's form, but he could see Esinon darting along the lower streets. A shot fired and hit Obi-Wan in the chest, the footage cut out right before he hit a pile of crates below.

"This is all the footage that has been released, for legality reasons." The twi'lek reported, "Regarding General Kenobi's legion, his padawan Esinon Windcaster," a smiling picture of Cody's now General appeared in the corner of the screen. "Will be stepping up as General,"

"What!" Rex exclaimed, jumping out of his seat. Cody shot him a look and jabbed a thumb at a sleeping Esinon who shifted in the chair. "They can't do that," he said, in a hushed voice. "She's only sixteen, there has to be some rule that forbids the Jedi from doing that."

"I don't think it was the Jedi who did it," Cody replied, motioning to the TV where a video of the Chancellor entering the temple for Obi-Wan's funeral.

"The Chancellor promoted the young Commander shortly after General Kenobi's death," a video of the Chancellor appeared,

"Padawan Windcaster has my full confidence. She has proven herself as a leader many times before, and I'm sure she will lead the 212th to new heights." the video cut out,

"Unfortunately we have not been able to get a statement from the newest General in the GAR-"

"And you won't be getting one if I have anything to say about it," Cody growled and muted the TV. He sat down on one of the couches, placing his elbows on his knees and pressing his head to his fists. Cody sucked in a harsh breath, Rex sat down next to him putting an arm around his older brother. Cody didn't have words to describe the tornado of emotions he was experiencing.

"I- I'm gonna kill him. That sniper- I'm gonna make him pay." Cody snarled, "I'll hunt him down, there's nowhere he can hide."

"I know you want to hunt him down, but General Skywalker is already on that. Besides, Esinon needs you here, now." Cody sighed, feeling a few tears slide down his cheeks.

"I know, I know," he gritted his teeth, "But it hurts,"

"I know," Rex replied, pulling Cody a little closer. "But we'll get through this like we always do, together."

"Together," Cody agreed,

**The next morning…**

Esinon groaned, trying to stretch but found she was in a very confined position. She sat up, looking around groggily, she was in the clone barracks, in a chair that wasn't meant for sleeping. She vaguely remembered falling asleep here last night, after crying for a very, very, long time.

"You hungry?" she glanced up, to see Rex holding out a plate of food.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" she grumbled, running a hand through her tangled hair. She resorted to trying to brush it out with her fingers,

"Because you haven't eaten in almost two days, and you need to eat eight thousand calories a day," he replied, holding the plate out to her again. She grabbed the plate just to appease him, she stared down at the food suddenly feeling very queasy.

"I was really hoping it was just a bad dream," she murmured, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"I know," he said,

"Does Master Fisto know I'm here?" she asked, slowly stirring the food on her plate around, trying to make Rex think she was going to eat any of this. She thought that if she tried to eat any of this, she'd throw up, she felt nauseous anyways from sobbing all of last night.

"Yes, he knows you're alright." Alright wasn't the word that Esinon would use to describe her current mood, "He thought it best to give you some space," Esinon made a noise somewhere between a cough and huff.

"I don't wanna be around Jedi anymore," she grumbled to herself, "Least not for a while,"

"You can stay here for as long as you'd like," he assured her,

"Till I get deployed you mean," Rex flinched, this shouldn't be happening, this wasn't right. She was too young. She was just a kid! Why couldn't the Jedi understand that! "Unless you haven't heard…"

"No, I have," Rex said, Esinon stared down at her food for a moment before returning to her task of brushing out her hair.

"I need a hairbrush," she mumbled to herself,

"I can ask Tup-"

"It's fine," she replied, deciding to pull her hair back instead. She knew she'd regret it later since it would be more tangled even later, but that was a problem for future Esinon. "Is the 501st getting deployed anytime soon?" Rex shrugged,

"We haven't gotten word about anything, things could change."

"They always do seem to do that, just when you're getting settled," Rex knew she wasn't talking about deployment anymore.

"I'm going to go check on Cody. Please just try to eat, a little bit, all I'm asking," he said, rubbing her shoulder. She looked down at her food to him,

"I miss him," she whispered, the blank stare she gave him cut deeper than any wound he'd ever gotten. Suddenly she was that scared little girl on Saleucami again, who had jumped at every little noise. He couldn't think of anything to say, any comforting words he could offer this girl in pain, who had just lost everything.

"Just eat, please?" she stared back down at her plate of food, finally stuffing some in her mouth just to please him. "That wasn't so bad, huh?" She gave him a tired smile, "I'll be right back,"

"Not goin' anywhere," she mumbled through a full mouth, finally realizing how hungry she was. Not eating in two days had taken its toll on the speedster… two days, two whole days Obi-Wan had been gone. It still didn't feel real, none of it felt real. She almost was wishing they would get deployed.

On Kamino when Echo had died, at least she had training to distract herself, now all she could do was sit with her thoughts. It was awful to sit in the darkness, the cold, and the fear that resided where Obi-Wan's bond used to be. She'd known that when one of them died the bond would be shattered, she just didn't expect it to hurt so much. It felt like a piece of her had died, it had. A piece of her had died, Obi-Wan Kenobi was dead, and there was nothing she could do to change that.

**One week later…**

The gunship rattled and shook as she tightened her grip on the strap,

"Hanging in there General?" Cody asked, she looked up at him and nodded,

"You can do this," she whispered to herself, the doors to the gunship whooshed open and they all sprinted out into the lush jungles of Dantooine, they ducked behind trees, avoiding the droids' fire. She peeked around the tree watching the droids' movements, "Cody, have you men split up and lose the droids in the trees. If we get them to split up it'll be easier for my squad to make a break for the base."

"Your squad?" he asked, she spotted Waxer not far away, and Boil close on his tail.

"Yeah, my squads, actually. Waxer, Boil, can you see me?" she asked,

"We see you, sir," Waxer replied,

"As soon as the droids split up, we're making a break for the base."

"You got it," Boil said, she sprinted out from behind her tree slashing through droids, her blade going through them like a hot knife through butter. This is where she took her rage out. On the field. Where no Jedi was there to judge her, it was just her, her men, the dirt beneath her feet, the blade in her hand, and the droids between her and victory. She could see the droids beginning to split, "Now!" She saw Waxer and Boil come sprinting towards her with their respective squads, they made a break for the base but were met with a new problem. A giant wall that was not on the holo map of the base last time she checked. How did scouts miss this?

"Sir, I don't mean to be a damper on the situation, but how do we get past this?" Boil asked,

"I'm formulating," she mumbled, it was too thick to cut through with a lightsaber, and they didn't have grappling guns to make the climb with… phasing! "Ok, here's the plan, we'll have to be quick, but I'm gonna phase us through."

"Grab hands everybody!" Waxer called, Esinon grabbed Waxer and Boil's hands, closing her eyes trying to concentrate on going into a phase. _Deep breath in- gunfire- exhale- I lost him!- inhale- Obi-Wan!-_ exhale, she felt herself vibrate a few times but she couldn't, she couldn't phase.

"General," Waxer said, with urgency in his voice, her eyes whipped open as the pounding of droid feet grew closer,

"I can't do it," she muttered, hanging her head in shame, she should be better than this.

"Do what!" he shouted as the pounding filled their ears.

"I can't phase! We have to go," she said, making for the dense jungle, the troopers following after her. Obi-Wan wouldn't make this mistake, he would have known about the wall, and if he didn't, he would have come up with a plan that worked. He wouldn't have frozen up because of all the memories… all of those memories. They met up with Cody and the Republic was pushed back away from the base, she needed to come up with a new plan, and fast.

* * *

"General, are you ok?" Cody asked, laying a hand on the stiff teenager,

"Yeah, yeah, I'm just trying to figure out a way to get past that wall,"

"We have detonators," he replied,

"We do?" she perked up, he could practically see the gears turning in her brain. "Ok, ok, I'll take the charges and set them along the wall, the second that thing comes down, make a break for the base."

"Yes sir," she ran off to find the charges and headed for the wall, she quickly and strategically set the charges, they didn't have many so she needed to make them count.

She finished quickly and made it to a safe distance, but she was still close enough to see, she wanted to watch this, and take glory in watching the Separatists burn. Just as she was about to press the detonator a sharp pain stabbed through her shoulder, she whipped around to see a trio of commandos emerging from the bushes.

She pulled out her lightsaber deflecting a few bolts, her arm starting to go numb. Nerve damage, she guessed, Rex had complained about the same thing on Saleucami.

She stabbed her saber into the first commando, but she fell to the ground as another blaster bolt seared through her skin. She reached out with the force crushing both droids under her fist, she dragged herself to the dropped detonator and pressed the button.

The wall came down in a fiery blaze, she smiled to herself as it collapsed, she pressed her comlink,

"Cody, you have to storm the base yourself, I'm injured," she said, the adrenaline fading and the searing pain starting to set in.

"Sir, are you alright?" he asked panickedly,

"Just go! I'm fine!" she shouted, angrily ending the transmission, the anger quickly melted to sadness and pain. She buried her head in the crook of her elbow, "I'm not fine," she whispered, as tears streamed down her face.

**A few days later…**

Ahsoka rammed into Esinon hugging her tight, Esinon's first instinct was to assume something was wrong.

"Ahsoka, are you ok?" Anakin had been distant since Obi-Wan's death. If anything she thought it would bring the three of them closer, not push them apart.

"We caught him, Hardeen, he's in prison Esinon!" she exclaimed, relieved. She froze for a second,

"You... you caught him?"

"We found him in a bar, he's going to prison for a very, very long time." the togruta said, Esinon didn't say anything for a moment. She forced a smile,

"That's great Ahsoka, that's really good news," she whispered, but deep down Esinon didn't feel any more relieved. Putting her Master's killer in prison didn't bring Obi-Wan back. A deep dark part of her wanted Hardeen dead, and even further down, was the fact that she wanted to be the one who did it. Without Obi-Wan's bond, everything felt so dark.

* * *

Obi-Wan didn't like this place. Correction, he hated this place. Naboo. He couldn't stand the planet. Where Qui-Gon died, where he met Maul, where he was given the responsibility of Anakin.

He'd had so many nightmares of this place, so many times he had to relive the worst day of his life, again, and again, and again. He was walking through the halls again, everything silent except for the tapping of his boots.

He could hear someone humming, eerily humming. He curiously followed the noise, the humming getting louder and louder.

He finally made it to the reactor room where he was separated from the source of the noise by red plasma shields.

There was a girl on the other side of the shields, sitting on the ledge, swinging her legs over the abyss that lay below. The reactor core. One of the plasma doors fell and Obi-Wan headed closer.

"Hey, I don't think you should be here!" he called, the girl glanced up at him, "Esinon," he whispered, she smiled at him, continuing to swing her legs.

"I'm ok here, thanks Master," she said happily, "You never talk about this place you know," another plasma door fell and Obi-Wan headed closer.

"I know, but please Esinon, just back away from the ledge," he said, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. She fiddled with the end of her robes,

"I'm not gonna fall," she peered over the edge of the reactor core.

"You're not…" he said slowly, she smirked,

"I'm not that stupid," she shifted a little closer to the edge.

"Esinon," he was really wishing that the last plasma door would fall. "Please, come here, I just want to make sure you're alright," he said, forcing a soft smile, he was hoping it would draw her closer. She grinned wickedly,

"Really? You want to make sure I'm alright?' she chuckled to herself, a sad look crossing her face, "You abandoning me says differently,"

"Esinon please!"

"Now you'll know how it feels," she snarled, her eyes flickering yellow and lightning exploding from her hands. The entire reactor went critical,

"NO!"

* * *

Obi-Wan shot up in his small cot, staring at the gray walls of the Republic prison. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest, he ran a shaky hand over his now bald head. Esinon was safe… as far as he knew.

He'd tried not to watch the holo news, for fear of seeing her and his guilt resurfacing. What was that? A nightmare… no- a vision? A vision of what? The council promised to keep her out of action, she would be safe. He was sure of it yet he prayed anyways,

"Please stay safe padawan mine,"

**A few days later…**

"Do you want to play sabacc?" Waxer asked gently, Esinon glanced up from her datapad, most likely reading another mission debriefing. It seemed they had been getting a lot of missions lately, and Esinon was getting quickly overwhelmed.

"I don't really feel like it, but thanks for the offer," she said, smiling tiredly, Waxer nodded, deciding it to leave it alone. Every clone still felt the loss of their former General and the visible sadness of their current General. Esinon had given up a while ago in trying to hide her depression, she focused on her work instead. "I think I'm gonna go to bed, goodnight guys," she tugged Obi-Wan's old cloak around herself tighter,

"Goodnight General," Waxer waved, she gave a nod with a soft smile before heading to her quarters. She sat down on her bed, placing her head in her hands. Every day felt a little more numb, it was better than the immense grief.

She rarely cried anymore, because she rarely thought about Obi-Wan anymore. She missed normal life. She gave a weary laugh to herself, to think she had dreams of knighthood and her own legion.

Being General was hard, and a lot of work. Yes, she had Cody to guide her, but she was wishing that Anakin would help her through all of this. He wouldn't talk to her, and Ahsoka was mostly concerned about keeping up with her Master.

Her Master who was still alive. She couldn't help but feel a bit bitter because Ahsoka had her Master and she didn't. She knew Ahsoka missed Obi-Wan too, but Obi-Wan hadn't been _her _Master.

Everyone was looking to her to be the new Negotiator, but she wasn't her Master. Not in the slightest, she was head-stong and impatient, she often thought with her lightsaber before she tried to use words first. She was anxious, and attached, and afraid. She had a nose for trouble, and Obi-Wan wasn't there to rescue her anymore.

**A few days later…**

Part of being the head 212th medic was being a psychologist, had Drummer had formal training? No, no he hadn't, but he did read a lot of books. The force knew the 212th needed a psychologist, so when his former General… he wasn't gonna think about it.

Either way, Esinon had changed, and he didn't blame her. Losing someone who was as close to Esinon as Obi-Wan was would mess with her head. He'd also learned that it had been his new General who held her Master's body as he died.

So Drummer did the best thing to do was hold support groups, sometimes soldiers weren't the best about talking to one another unless they were forced to. So Drummer created an environment that felt safe to talk about it, the training room, and the safety circle.

Except there was one person he just couldn't seem to get to go, Esinon. She kept saying something about how it wasn't the Jedi way, and she'd been keeping up with her meditation and she was fine.

Drummer thought otherwise. He'd been keeping an eye on everyone on _the Negotiator_, making sure no one spiraled too far down. He'd left Esinon alone for long enough, there had been too many missed meals, too many training sessions avoided, too many nightmares. He suspected that she could possibly have PTSD, but he doubted it.

It was more of a heightened anxiety, she was still functioning just fine but her Master's death, and the Jedi council, kriff them, were messing with her head. He was going to say something now, she needed somewhere to not grieve this tragedy alone. So he did something that Cody would have called stupid, which was dragging Esinon, literally, to a support group.

"Drummer where are we going?" Esinon asked, he didn't answer. She'd find out soon enough, she didn't hold a grudge. Well, maybe she did after General Kenobi's death against… you know who. Esinon sighed as she continued to let Drummer pull her down the hallway. "Drummer, I order you to tell me where we're going. the medic stayed silent, with both his former General and Commander hating the medbay, he didn't much care about being ordered around. He opened the door to the training room, where most of the 212th except the flight crew and the injured were sitting in a large circle. Drummer shoved her in, following after her, closing and locking the door behind them. "Drummer…"

"Welcome to therapy, you're staying in here with us while we all work out some emotions. You're free to share whatever you're feeling because we're not gonna tell any Jedi. Just get it out. All of you." the medic instructed, "General, sit." Esinon stayed frozen for a minute, staring at the troopers before Drummer rolled his eyes pushing her forward, she uncomfortably took a seat in between Anchor and Cody. "I'll start, I think all of this is unfair." Drummer began. "Esinon shouldn't have to be a General at such a young age, and the Jedi forcing her to shove her feelings away is just unhealthy and cruel. I wish I could have protected General Kenobi, but don't we all."

Everyone nodded in agreement, Esinon hugged her arms close to her stomach, feeling the itch to just phase right through the wall. She felt uncomfortable here with her men, she'd taken to handling her emotions in private. The last thing her men needed was their General acting like a scared little kid, even if she was only a scared little kid. Bean spoke up next,

"I miss General Kenobi," he said slowly, "I miss his kind smile, and his friendliness," Esinon missed his kind smile too, Boil spoke next. He ranted for a good five minutes before Drummer made him sit back down. Esinon had loosened her tense muscles only slightly. She still felt uncomfortable being here, she didn't want to talk about Obi-Wan. Not yet, it still felt too fresh. Soon everyone had shared and eyes shifted to her. She stared uncomfortably at the ground, every part of being cried out to run, but she was frozen in place.

"I...," she managed to choke out, "I guess… I don't really have words." she paused thinking, "Obi-Wan was the closest thing that I had to a father…" Cody gripped her hand tightly, she hadn't noticed, but it was almost like he was trying to remind her that she wasn't alone. Cody liked to try and ignore it, but he had seen the worried looks on his men's faces when their General didn't show for meals, or training, when the dark circles became more prominent underneath her eyes when she fell asleep in the mess, and common room because once she quit moving she immediately fell asleep due to her lack of it. Esinon stared at the floor, "I-" she bit back tears, she didn't want to cry in front of her troops, she needed to act as a firm ground for them. She didn't say a word more, before anyone could blink she zipped up and phased through the door. "I've got it," Cody said, getting up and heading for the door,

"With all due respect, can I try?" Bean asked this was Esinon's squad, the one she had trained on Kamino. Cody nodded, and Bean headed out the door after the General. Bean walked down the corridors of the _Negotiator, _heading for General Windcaster's quarters, but it looked like she didn't make it that far. He knew that because she was sitting against the wall, head tucked into her knees, with her arms wrapped around her legs in an impromptu hug.

"General…" Bean said softly, kneeling down in front of her.

"Please go away," she whimpered, wrapping her arms tighter.

"General, we just wanted to apologize if we pushed too far," he said, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, she pushed it off

"Bean, please go away,"

"We're just trying-" she bolted to her feet,

"You guys should just quit trying! I'm trying to handle it like a Jedi and you all are making it worse!" she shouted, her face streaked with angry tears, she disappeared before he could even blink. Cody came around the corner, placing a hand on Bean's shoulder.

"Don't take it personally, people get angry when they're grieving," he said,

"I wish I could fix it. I haven't seen her like this since Echo," Bean whispered, he found it hard to sympathize with the Jedi, now that he saw how they handled one of their own grieving. They did nothing. Instead of offering nurturing care to Esinon as she grieved, they told her to push it away. Well, they said to release it into the force, but it seemed Esinon was more just putting it in a box and shoving it into the dark depths of her heart.

"It'll get better, it gets better with time."

* * *

Esinon sucked in a harsh breath, everything she was fearing would happen, had happened. So much for not acting like a scared little kid, guess she couldn't keep up the act forever. Obi-Wan had always been better at masking his emotions, the perfect Jedi. Sometimes she wondered how that man was the padawan of Qui-Gon. And now she had yelled at Bean. She didn't mean to do that, the emotions and thoughts just spilled out. She heard a knock at the door, she stayed quiet hoping whoever it was would just go away.

"Esinon, open the door," Waxer said from the other side, she was debating about whether to let him in or not when he interrupted her train of thought. "I'll get Spinner to open the door if you don't," she waved her hand, opening the door. Waxer came into the room and sat down next to her against the wall.

"'M sorry," she murmured, resting her chin on her knees.

"We know," he said, Esinon glanced at him, expecting some sort of pep talk about how everything was going to be alright and we're all in this together, but the talk never came. He just sat there with her, not waiting for something to happen. Obi-Wan used to do this for her when she didn't feel like talking, so they would just sit. Or meditate, whichever she chose first.

"Thanks, Waxer," she said softly,

"Always verd'ika, always,"

* * *

**Now yall are probably thinking. WHAT THE HECK! OBI-WAN ISN'T SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD YET! Trust me, there is a method to my madness. **

**Thanks to eagle eyes98 for helping me write mercy mission.**

**Did I start writing a self-indulgent Marvel x Star Wars fic. *evil cackle* yes, yes I did. **

**Next up on let's make canon corner: ****You know the phrase 'get down Mr. President?' I feel like Wolf pack has a version of that, someone will just shout GET DOWN CAPTAIN and then they all tackle Wolffe. One time someone shouted it during a briefing and everyone just stood there since Plo and Xavier were both there, Plo just smiled and said, 'Well then, get down Captain," and everyone tackled Wolffe**

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	34. Darkness on Umbara

**Two weeks later…**

Humanitarian supply drops weren't hard, Esinon knew that. She'd done lots of them over the course of time in the GAR. She was used to helping to move crates of food, medical supplies, and clothing, but now as General, she had to supervise.

"Uh Anchor, Boil, take that over there for the G-5 sector." she pointed to a spot of crates, "Bean, that goes over to L-6,"

"General," Cody greeted, she hummed in response, scrolling down the list of supplies and directing troopers as she went. She was acclimating to be a General, finally, took a few weeks but she'd finally gotten hold of it. Life had been good as of late, well as good as it could be. She realized that Obi-Wan wouldn't have wanted her to mope for the rest of her life, feeling like a dejected, terrified child. She was Esinon kriffing Windcaster for the force's sake! She was awesome! She'd died and come back to life, fought Ventress, Grievous, countless battle droids, bounty hunters, and every other person who wanted her dead. She'd been captured, tortured, injured, everything, she'd been to hell and back, she could do this! "The Jedi Council is waiting for you in the briefing room sir," She frowned, had something changed?

"Alright, Waxer! Come here!" The trooper came over, she handed the datapad to him, "Keep things running till I get back, Boil,"

"Hmm?"

"Keep an eye on him,"

"I'll keep both eyes on him, sir," she smiled and headed off with Cody to the briefing room where a hologram of the Master Windu and Master Yoda were

waiting.

"General Windcaster, the 501st has just been rerouted to Umbara, the 212th will be joining them.'' Esinon pulled up a map of the territories surrounding Umbara. This was an outer rim planet, far out of the reach or corner of either side. Or so she thought,

"Umbara, huh? The war's out that far? That's not good," she muttered to herself,

"Well, we are at war sir," Cody said,

"Aren't we always," she murmured, hand going up to her chin, copying Obi-Wan's posture. She was really wishing this war would end, when she first became a Commander, she didn't expect the war to drag out this long. Well, she was ready to do her part in ending the war and if that meant taking Umbara that was what she was gonna do.

"You will be joined by Master Tiin and Master Krell who will provide air support." Master Windu said, Esinon nodded,

"I'll rendezvous with them as soon as we finish the supply drop,"

"Very good, may the force be with you," Master Windu replied, Esinon gave a nod as the transmission cut out.

"So we're meeting back up with the 501st, just like old times," Esinon said, looking at a map of the Umbaran terrain and grimacing at the weapons she'd never even seen before. Force knew what kind of damage those things could do.

"Just like old times," Cody mumbled, she glanced up at her Commander.

"Cody… I know I've been a little preoccupied with," she motioned around her, "All this, and I wanted to ask, are you ok?" Cody sighed, leaning against the command pod.

"It's a lot, that's for sure," he said, motioning to the new weapons and soon to be plans for Umbara.

"No I mean like are you ok with Obi-Wan being… gone." she said, "Like how are you doing with all that?"

"It's hard, that's for sure. I guess I just wasn't expecting him to go that way. After all that, it doesn't make sense." he said,

"Yeah, lot of things don't make sense right now," she said, it didn't make sense she was a General, that Obi-Wan was dead, that the war had made its way out to Umbara.

"I miss him, kid,"

"I do too, but we have each other," she said, trying to be optimistic. She walked over to join his side, "And just think, hopefully, this will be more of a skirmish than a battle, we'll do the quick supply drop and then go to Umbara. Kick some Seppie butt and we'll be back here in no time!" Cody chuckled,

"Ever the optimist," she wrapped an arm around his waist in a side hug.

"Only when you need me to be," she said, her face fell for a moment. Echoes of words she had said to Obi-Wan so long ago. Cody pulled her a little closer,

"It'll be ok, it'll be ok with time."

**A few days later…**

"Protecting supply routes, that can't be too hard," she said, trying to assure herself at the moment. She had a bad feeling about this, all of this.

"It should be a relatively easy siege," Cody assured her, she nodded, face still stuffed in a datapad reviewing plans.

"Cody… do you know anything about Master Krell? Like how he is as a General, I only knew him when I was little." she explained, Cody shook his head.

"I've only served with him twice. Early in the war, before you became a padawan, and then at the Battle of Geonosis." he said, "He doesn't seem to like clones very much," she nodded remembering all those bruises on Uno. She still wondered sometimes if he'd gotten those bruises from Krell. She knew Uno was here because the 673rd was helping with the air assault, but she had yet to see the clone.

"Mmm," she murmured, scrolling down the list of endless things she needed to take care of, "Ok, can we divide and conquer? I'll check in with Masters Krell and Tiin about the airstrike, check on rations and ammo, you go see how Anakin's doing and if the men are ready to go. Make sure the-"

"The walkers are ready? I'll take care of it, see you at the briefing," he said, heading in the opposite direction. Being a General was still a bit overwhelming, especially since this was the first large scale attack she'd been put in charge of. She was supposed to take the capital, she wished she could be doing something else. She had one of the hardest jobs, but Anakin's was harder. The entire siege was counting on him. She rounded a corner, heading towards Master Krell's position until she ran right into someone.

"Umph," she grunted, "I'm sorry, wasn't watching where I was going, kinda distracted these days."

"That's alright Commander," she glanced up, no one had called her Commander in a while. "I'm as much at fault," she recognized that voice, that familiar shy force presence, a quiet ebb, and flow.

"Uno!" she exclaimed, all stress of the upcoming mission instantly faded away at the sight of her old friend. "How are you? It's been so long!" she was honestly relieved to see him alive, Krell had a reputation of high casualty counts.

"I'm doing well Commander," he said, placing a smile on his face. At least he knew she was still the same kid from all those years ago on Geonosis, but she had grown. Become more mature, guess that's what happens with time, you grow.

"It's so great to see you, Uno," she said, she'd also decided not to correct him on her being General now. Being called General still felt unnatural. "I'm just headed to see Masters Krell and Tiin if you want to walk with me." She offered, Uno nodded, not that he really wanted to be around his General, but he never got to see Esinon and he wondered how she was doing. It had been two years after all. "Anything new with you?"

"Same old, same old I guess, what about you?" She froze up for only a moment, so much had changed. Being a General, a new Master, Anakin, and her not even talking anymore. She missed him, she didn't know the day she lost her Master, she would lose both her Master's. She didn't know how Uno didn't know everything that had happened, but even though she'd grown more comfortable with the idea of Obi-Wan's death, the concept of talking about it was still terrifying.

"Uh… it's complicated," she said, fingers curling a little more tightly around her datapad. "Lots of things have changed I guess… I'm surprised you don't know."

"Know what sir?" Uno asked, concern lacing his voice.

"I- I'm a General now, Uno. Master Kenobi is… dead." she didn't like to say that out loud. Uno didn't say anything for a long moment,

"General… I'm so sorry," Esinon nodded, a lot of people had been telling her that. Soon they had reached their destination where Krell was glaring at clones as they moved about the hanger prepping for battle, helping their pilots.

"General Krell, I came to check in with you," Esinon said, trying to be as cheerful with the grumpy General as possible.

"General Windcaster," he gave a nod to her, ignoring her question. She huffed to herself, going to stand in front of the besalisk who towered several feet about her. She cleared her throat,

"General Krell, I came to check in with you." She repeated, a little more forcefully,

"Everything's under control," he said coldly,

"Yeah, 'fraid I'm gonna need a little more than that," she said, crossing her arms.

"It is none of your concern-"

"Yes, yes it is. I have to take the capital, I want to know if there have been updates to the plan," she demanded.

"There have been no updates. You are dismissed, padawan." he snapped, she glared at him before stalking out of the hanger. She angrily headed down the hallways, fuming. Padawan? She was a General the same as him! Why wouldn't he listen to her?! He never used to be like this, he was goofy and silly when she was little, maybe it was all fake, or maybe he had changed? It had been a long time since she had been a youngling...

"You ok Speeds? I haven't seen you this angry since you overheard a shiny call you shortstop and then you wouldn't talk to him for a week, and you nudged paint on top of his door." Anakin rambled, Esinon had a reason to be sensitive about her height, it was a constant reminder of her abandonment. She was short because she had been malnourished. Ewok diets and human diets are not the same, plus her tribe wouldn't feed her for the two days before Master Windu arrived. She huffed in annoyance,

"Underestimation sucks Anakin, it sucks," she grumbled,

"From who? I'll kick a clone's butt if you need," she glanced up at him, smiling softly. Anakin hadn't talked to her like this in weeks, not since Obi-Wan died.

"From Krell, he's not treating me the same as he would other Generals." she said, "I tried to get an update on the air assault and it didn't go well"

"Luckily for you, you won't have to be in the sky with him. You get to be on the ground with me," he replied, good-naturedly punching her shoulder. She chuckled,

"I'm so lucky," Anakin gave a cocky smile,

"It's time for our briefing, you ready Speedy?" he asked, she sighed,

"Ready as I'll ever be," she mumbled, heading into the crowded hangar. The men parted for the pair of Generals, she heard someone whisper,

"Is that our General? She looks so… young."

"Yes." another voice snapped, "Now show some respect," Esinon clenched up for a moment. That clone had just voiced what was on everyone's mind.

"Don't pay them any mind," Anakin whispered, "Remember, put on a brave face and keep marching." She nodded, standing a little taller. Anakin was right, anyone will believe you if you act confident. She could keep up the facade long enough. She scanned the room to make sure everyone was there before switching on the hologram map from Spinner's databanks.

"Masters Krell and Tinn will be supporting my troops in the south while Anakin's battalion comes in from the north and takes out enemy reinforcements." she said, motioning to a route on the map, "It is imperative we conquer the capital city as quickly as possible and hold it."

"Our biggest problem is gonna be the local militia. The Umbarans have aligned themselves with the Separatists and are heavily armed." Anakin said, he turned towards Fives and Rex, "ARC trooper Fives will be helping my unit on special assignment."

"Ready to do my part General," Fives said, his chest puffing a little,

"Remember Anakin, Cody, and I will be fifty klicks to your south. We're counting on you to take out those local fighters, or I'm afraid the capital might never surrender." Anakin sighed,

"Does my battalion have to do everything?" he teased,

"Well, even when we try to do it, you always end up barging in and doing it yourself, so I decided to speed up the process," she joked, walking backward to her gunship. She heard Fives snort,

"She's got ya there, General," he said, Anakin rolled his eyes,

"I'm already regretting bringing you Fives," he grumbled, Esinon giggled,

"Have fun boys!" she waved as the gunship doors closed, life, for once, felt… normal. If you consider briefings and war normal, Esinon certainly did. The gunship jolted out of the hanger as she tightened her grip on the strap above her head. She remembered when she was younger and couldn't reach them. A lot of her first missions consisted of hanging onto Gregor's arm instead of the strap. She smiled to herself, oh the good old days. The ship shuddered as they entered the atmosphere,

"General Windcaster! There's a lot of incoming fire!" Lance yelled over the coms of the gunship, the ship jolted as another explosion thundered outside.

"Yep! I can hear it! Just get us as close as you can," she instructed, flames licked at the sides of their gunship, and the smell of smoke reached their nostrils.

"Just like Geonosis," Trapper muttered, Esinon flinched, she didn't like to think about Geonosis.

"Thirty meters from the landing site!" Lance yelled Esinon braced for impact. She didn't like crashes, well no one did. The ship screeched into the ground a few seconds later, Boil, Waxer, and Trapper were working on getting the door unjammed. Esinon wheedled her way to the front, using the force to blow the door clean off. She ignited her lightsaber,

"Let's go!" red bolts whizzed past as she deflected one away from Cody's face. She glanced upward for a split second to see Lance struggling to get the cockpit open. The ship would go up in smoke any second, she fell into speedy time the world slowing around her. She rushed up to Lance's position, ripping the hatch off and pulling him out and to safety. She pushed the DC-17 she now carried with her into his hands. Sometimes lightsabers couldn't get the job done, and Obi-Wan wasn't around to tell her she couldn't use it. "Here, take this, stay safe," she instructed, before zipping to the front to rendezvous with Cody.

"Everybody get to your platoons!" Cody yelled, she was glad to have him at her side. He pulled her down behind a piece of a crashed gunship, "Alright, we're set to move forward with the siege,"

"You make it sound so easy," she joked, ash already streaking her robes and faces. She cocked her head, giving a lopsided grin. Cody chuckled.

"It's only sixteen more clicks to the north," he said, Esinon poked her head over their cover, watching as electrified orbs screamed through the sky.

"Welp, that's only like eighteen hours of sieging," she said, deflecting a bolt as they jumped out from behind their cover and began heading towards the front. For a moment she attempted to find a place she could shout orders from, but it was far too noisy and chaotic to do. She knew if she and Cody began leading from the front, the others would follow. They trusted her, she sidestepped another blast as they continued forward. She had a bad feeling about this.

* * *

Esinon tiredly stumbled into camp after eighteen hours of sieging, medical had finally begun pulling injured into transports and they had set up a temporary camp.

"Alright, it's nap time for you," Waxer said, grabbing her shoulders and pushing her along in front of him towards a tent.

"I need to-" she yawned, "check in with-"

"Cody will take care of it," he assured her, pushing her into her tent. "Ok? Go to sleep," she smiled softly before ducking into her tent. She stared at the sleeping mat for a moment. Sleeping meant nightmares. Nightmares she hated,

"Lay down little runner," Qui-Gon said, ducking into the tent as well, "I'll sit here until you fall asleep, you've got a long siege ahead of you." She sat down on her mat staring at the glowing form of Qui-Gon,

"Have you seen Obi-Wan yet?" she asked quietly, Qui-Gon shook his head,

"No," he said softly, Esinon stared down at her feet. "Now, lay down and go to sleep. If you want, I'll be here when you wake up." She nodded and curled up on the mat, and for once she slipped into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Esinon ducked under another blaster bolt, deflecting another.

"Where's our air support!" she shouted, she saw a bolt heading straight for Waxer. She used her speed to tackle him out of the way, "Cody!"

"General!" he shouted, dashing over to her side as she rolled off of Waxer.

"What is Krell doing up there! And has Anakin reported in at all?" she yelled over the blaster fire and explosions,

"No sir, Skywalker got called back to Coruscant! Krell is now leading the 501st!"

"WHAT?!" Cody grabbed her wrist, pulling her to ground as another bolt fired over their head. "Why in the galaxy would he be put in charge of the 501st! This is the 501st we're talking about, Anakin's 501st!"

"I know, I know, but we've got a job to do!" he said, Esinon nodded as they both leaped to their feet. She had to have faith, she had to trust. Krell would do his job, and maybe the 501st would be a little disgruntled at his strictness but they were soldiers and would get the job done regardless.

**A few days later...**

The only thing keeping her awake at this point was the adrenaline coursing through her veins at the moment. They had been attempting to take the capital for days now. The only way she knew this was her Chrono, without it, the hours and days started to melt together, because time had no meaning on a planet without a sun. The capital was heavily fortified and kept getting resupplied, for every weapon or droid they cut down, two replaced it. They had learned of an airbase to the west, but they didn't have the time to take it out, trying to hold what little ground they had on the capital. She dove behind some debris, she needed help, and she was ticked that she needed it. Obi-Wan wouldn't have needed to ask for help-

'Now little runner, you don't have time for doubt.' Qui-Gon said in her head, she sighed, knowing he was right. She pressed her comlink contacting Krell,

"The capital city's too fortified!" She yelled, "We need your battalion to help us take it!" Rex came into view, at least he was still alive. She could hear blaster fire on their end as well. She plastered her back to the debris, breathing hard as another explosion shook the ground beneath her.

"Resistance from the Umbarans has been greater than anticipated. We're holding our ground at the moment," Krell replied coolly, seemingly bored with the battle around him.

"We've gathered intel about an airbase to the west. It's resupplying the capital's defenses," she informed him, fingers clenching more tightly around her lightsaber hilt as the force shuddered and cried.

"Incoming! Incoming!" someone yelled at the other end of the comlink.

"Get down! Get down!" Fives screamed, she reached out in the force to find his familiar force signal throbbing with adrenaline. She pulled away relieved he was still alive, Krell looked off at the battle boredly, before lazily turning his attention back to the transmission.

"If you could take that airbase, it will sever the capital's supply lines, allowing the rest of our forces to move in," she said,

"I'll see to it that airbase is put under our control," he replied, confidently,

"Remember, General Krell, the entire invasion depends on your battalion," she said, ending the transmission as Krell nodded. She let out a shuddered breath, the force was screaming, crying, and wailing. Something was wrong, so very wrong, and she couldn't figure out what.

**Two days later...**

"We need to get the injured back up to a cruiser!" Drummer shouted Esinon grunted as she shoved her lightsaber into another droid.

"Start gathering them! I'll call Master Tiin and get us a gunship!" she shouted, she deflected another bolt, glaring down another batch of Umbarans and droids that appeared on the horizon. She was debating about whether to fall back or not,

"We need air support!" someone on her right yelled, Esinon agreed, without Krell in the sky things were becoming more and more difficult, she missed Anakin.

"We have to fall back!" someone yelled,

"We can't yet!" she yelled, "Just hold on a little longer!" she watched the sky in hopes that Master Tiin would come racing through,

"Air support, coming in!" Cody yelled over the comms, she grinned as a pod of ships flew overhead.

"You keeping busy Esinon?" Master Tiin asked over the coms, she chuckled,

"Always Master Tiin always, but I need a medical transport! I've got a lot of wounded and they need attention now," she shouted,

"I'll send someone down. Maybe the force be with you." the transmission ended, she deflected three more blaster bolts in rapid succession as Cody came running towards her position.

"The 501st captured the airbase!" he yelled excitedly, "We can move forward with the siege." She restrained herself from cheering, things were finally looking up.

"Let's go, men!"

**Two days later…**

They had been forced out of the capital, with the long-range missiles the Umbarans had used, they couldn't get any more ground. She had attempted to mount an attack to deplete the Separatists' weapons so they could start making their way back into the capital, but it had failed miserably. Not minutes after they had retreated, she discovered that the capital was resupplying straight from the supply ship in the sky.

She sat with her eyes closed, soaking in some of the quiet, trying to formulate a new plan. She could feel the flickering of life in the force, clouded by unimaginable darkness. The force shook, quivered, and sobbed with grief. Little flames of clone life sat in her view, but one by one, they were being snuffed out, far too quickly. She had never sensed this much death. If she reached out farther in the force, she could sense Rex and Fives, they were… angry, confused, grief-stricken.

"General..." she blinked her eyes open, Cody staring at her worriedly,

"Huh?"

"General, General Krell is making contact," he said,

"Oh-uh, I'm coming," she said, trying to act General-like. That's what her men needed right? A strong and confident General, like Master Kenobi. 'Just put on a brave face, and keep marching.' She entered the makeshift command center, Krell and Rex appeared. She was relieved to see him alive, after all the death she had sensed. "Congratulations on your capture of the Umbaran airbase, General." she greeted, "It is refreshing to have good news," She gave a soft smile, trying to raise their spirits. Rex looked exhausted, and his stern expression even tighter than usual.

"There will be time for celebration once we have taken the capital," Krell replied, folding his remaining two arms over his chest. Her smile faltered for a split second,

"Yes, well, I'm afraid that's going to be more difficult than anticipated," she said, thumbing the inside of her sleeve. "Their attacks have increased, and their long-range missiles are forcing us to retreat from our position."

"I was hoping we'd cut off their arms shipments and supplies when we took this airbase."

"So was I, but it seems they're receiving new arms shipments directly from a supply ship orbiting the planet," the hologram started to glitch and sputter, "General Krell?"

"General Windcaster?" he asked,

"Sir, we're losing the transmission, they're blocking everything." a trooper informed her,

"It seems they're blocking our transmissions," she said, the hologram continuing to glitch,

"Can't we destroy the ship?" Rex asked, finally stepping forward, Krell shot him a glare, which Esinon tried to ignore.

"We're trying, but with little success, and the extra ships we were promised have not yet arrived. I'm hoping to hear more news from Master Tinn soon,"

"We'll just have to take the capital regardless of the missiles."

_'Yeah, try being the one who's dodging them.'_ She thought to herself, she shook her head, they were probably struggling as much as she was. "My battalion will meet you at the rendezvous coordinates." She saw Rex look up at Krell in surprise, before focusing back on the ground. She could sense something was wrong, but she couldn't put her finger on what.

"Before you go, I wanted to tell you-"

"That will be all General Windcaster, thank you," Krell said,

"Wait! Listen to me," she said firmly, standing her ground.

"I already have a plan that will suffice, you are dismissed."

"But General Krell I know of-"

"I said you are dismissed, padawan."

"Stop! I have a plan that might work, so quit treating me like a child and listen for once," she said exasperated. She was tired, and her muscles were achy, and she was in sore need of a shower. Krell was shocked into silence, she pulled up a holo map of Umbara. "There's a network of pathways down here," she pointed to a spot on the map. "There are tons of plants for cover, and their large scale tanks can't get down that far. If you attack in a guerilla-style formation you'll be able to surprise the enemy. The capital will fall that much more-" the transmission cut out,

"The enemy seems to be blocking us, sir," Split said, "I'll try and get them back,"

"It's alright Split, I got my main point across. Whether Krell listens or not is another story," she said, stupid Krell. He'd always underestimated her, and he was mean to the clones, he fell on the list of people she didn't care for very much. Whatever, Krell would do his job, whether he used her plan or not. "Almost done," she murmured to herself, "Just hold on a little longer."

**A few hours later…**

Esinon had been watching the sky battle for a while, waiting for the supply ship to come down. They were just trying to hold their ground on what little they had left of the capital while waiting for the 501st to arrive. They would launch an attack soon, they were packing up to go right now.

Yet when three new Umbaran fighters joined the fight, she could sense a distinct force signature,

"Fives, what are you doing?" she murmured if the stupid di'kut got himself killed- nope, not gonna go there. But why in the name of the force was he up in the sky battle? That didn't seem like a Krell plan, it seemed very Anakin-esque. So if they were up there, they did it of their own free will. A few minutes later a sparkling explosion filled the sky. The supply ship was destroyed, but she saw only two ships leave the fiery explosion, she reached out, and Fives was still there. She needed to try and get a hold of Krell as soon as possible, to tell him of their heroic actions, and maybe he wouldn't be angry. Scratch that, he wouldn't be as angry. "Are we all set to move forward?" she asked as Cody joined her,

"Yes sir," he said,

"Waxer! I want your platoon with me!" she called out into the sea of men.

"Uh General, I sent Waxer's platoon to deal with an Umbaran skirmish. Krell called for it," Cody explained,

"Oh, uh, Boil! I want your platoon with me!"

"Yes sir!" he replied, his platoon moving with him to the front.

"Alright men, let's move out," she commanded, heading forward. They marched for hours and hours, only having a few small skirmishes. The Umbarans were finally realizing they were losing and were beginning to give up.

Things were looking up, and the morale of the men was improving. She was finally doing something right as a General! She hoped that Krell would be there soon, they'd need all the firepower they could muster to take the Capital.

The only thing she was worried about was that she hadn't heard anything from the 501st, and every time she tried to com them, her transmissions went unanswered. Something was wrong, but she was trying to ignore that gut feeling.

The force was shuddering, shaking, with grief and pain. The force suddenly surged, her knees buckling, _'We are loyal soldiers!- line up the prisoners!- they must be executed!- you have to learn to make your own decisions- we have to be trusted to make the right decisions!- they're clones! We're all clones!- the General is making a mistake, and he needs to be called on it!- CT-7567, are you reading me!- why would Krell do this?_'- Pain, suffering, death, hurt, fear, confusion, death, death, death, brother vs brother, screaming, so much screaming. Her whole head was pounding as she fell to the ground, gasping for air,

"General! We need a medic!" She wasn't sure who yelled that the force was overwhelming her as she was flooded with memories. Her breathing hitched, she felt like she was being crushed by darkness like she was suffocating, and she could feel a sadistic pleasure amongst all of it. More memories pounded into her mind, and Rex pleading, pleading her to come, pleading her to save them.

"Rex," was all she was able to choke out before the world went dark.

* * *

**Sorry to leave off on a cliffhanger, but here we go on Umbara! **

**So I thought to myself. Umbara is pretty angsty, what if I killed Obi-Wan off and made it ten times as angsty. I then said yes and wrote this. **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: O****bi-Wan keeps a picture Esinon in his wallet.**


	35. Oblivion

Esinon jolted upright, gasping for air like a fish out of water. She grappled at Cody's arms trying to figure out where she was, what was going on, where Rex was.

"Hey, hey, hey, deep breath, deep breath," Cody said, holding her shoulders and held her to the sleeping mat.

"Where's Rex? I need to see him," she panted, hanging on tightly to his gauntlet,

"Look at me, look at me," Cody said, trying to catch the panicked brown eyes, she finally came to rest on him, "Esinon, Rex isn't here,"

"Then we have to go to him, now. Right now," she said, already trying to get up off the sleeping mat. Cody held her in place,

"Hey, hey, back at me, we can't go to Rex right now. We have a mission here, remember?"

"No! Something's wrong! I have to save him," she struggled against Cody, finally getting into a sitting position, everything was falling apart. The grief, fear, and anger that she had been stuffing away for so long to keep functioning were flooding up and out. "I can't- I can't lose anybody else!" She cried, her eyes welling with tears. Her head fell, her forehead resting on his chest plate, her shoulders trembling with heaved sobs and tears dripping down her face. "I can't lose anyone else," she whispered, Cody wrapped the young Jedi up in a hug. He didn't say anything, because he didn't know what she could sense, he didn't know what she had seen, and he didn't know if Rex was ok. And that scared him.

* * *

After nearly two weeks of long and hard-fought battles, they'd actually done it. They'd actually taken the capital. Esinon had never been so relieved or pleased with herself… she only wished Obi-Wan had been around to see it happen. She was currently smirking at the Umbaran king who was scowling at her,

"I really appreciate the surrender," she said, holding up a pair of cuffs with one finger.

"Jedi scum," the king sneered, she shrugged, tossing the cuffs to Wooly.

"I've been called worse," she said, trying to keep up the facade of a smooth talker, a Negotiator. Fact was she still was rattled by the daggers of memories that had ripped her mind. She wanted to try and get to the 501st as soon as physically possible, but before that, she was going to Waxer's last known location, because none of his platoon was picking up. She would have tried to reach out to them through the force, but her head was pounding and all of her senses were scrambled. Wooly cuffed the king, "Take him down to the brig with the others,"

"Yes General," he said, giving her a nod before another trooper helped him drag the king off. The smile faded, remembering they had yet to find the tactical droid. Tomorrow there would be more work to do, always more work to do. She sighed, looking around the throne room, she pressed her comlink.

"Cody, I'm going to Waxer's last known position. I'll be back soon," she said,

"Copy that sir, we'll hold down the fort here," he said, his voice happy but tired.

"Make sure you get some sleep," she said softly, Cody chuckled on the other end,

"Same goes for you," he said, she smirked,

"No time to sleep like tomorrow," she joked, "I'm gonna go,"

"Stay safe,"

"Always," she replied, ending the transmission. She took off at superspeed, glancing down at her comlink every once and a while to make sure she was still on course, after all, she was running halfway across the planet. She finally arrived at her desired destination to see only decimation, bodies. Bodies everywhere. Discarded, cold, everything was still, so still. Some were still holding onto weapons, others had been set together against plants, and that was when she saw it, Waxer's helmet. Her foot barely tapped it and her mind warped into a memory,

* * *

She could see Rex sprinting through the battlefield with his helmet off, waving his arms wildly. She peered over her weapon in surprise, what was he doing?

"They're clones!" he yelled, what was the 501st doing here? They weren't supposed to be here! "Everyone stop firing Cease fire! We're shooting at our men!" She tore her helmet off looking around, and that's when it happened. A bolt tore through the arena of brothers, nailing her straight in the chest. She collapsed to the ground, gasping for air, and she heard the last thought Waxer had before he blacked out, rip through her mind.

_'Why would Krell do this? Why would he pit me against my brothers?'_

* * *

Esinon sunk to her knees, her breath tight in her chest as she reached for Waxer's helmet, fingers brushing over the small picture of Numa that was painted on the side of his helmet. She remembered how excited he had been to show her, and how proud he was of himself for painting it. She remembered teaching him to say different words in twi'lek so that he could go back to Numa one day.

She pulled the helmet into her lap, clutching it tightly. She remembered when she was little and would get bored during waiting time during missions so Waxer would give her his helmet to play with. She loved running her fingers through all the grooves, scratches, and dents that he received during battles.

When she'd received her first scar from battle she'd been upset. She didn't want the scars, they were ugly, was what she had complained. Then Waxer had proceeded to show her his first scar, a blaster bolt to the forearm.

He said he treasured the scars he received because scars told a story and the same went for her scar. She'd started to love her scars in the same way he did. They were markings of all she had survived.

She remembered the cadets on Kamino had been fascinated with her scars, especially the large one on her side from Sarrish. While they were sparring, sometimes her tunic would fly up flashing her scar.

Sharkbait had finally gotten the courage to ask where she had gotten it from. Sharkbait… she finally looked up from the ground and the silent tears of shock and grief that had been spilling from her eyes. She looked around and saw Sharkbait's still body lying not far from her, the familiar teeth on his shoulder bell. He was dead. Her cadet was dead.

She scanned the bodies, she found the cold bodies of

Push,

Rainstorm,

Zoom,

Fidget and Cosmo,

Chopper,

Sketch,

Jester, and Punch. So many of her friends… they were gone. Grief, pain, anger, and regret washed over her in unforgiving tidal waves. The electricity surged, shooting up a beam into the sky, the grief, the pain, the anger… it won.

* * *

Rex needed time away from everything. He needed a minute to breathe, to think. So he didn't know exactly why he was going back there. He remembered getting on a speeder and heading back towards that godforsaken place.

He was doing it to get Waxer's helmet for Boil, he deserved that much. So he revved the speeder faster, letting the hell hole of Umbara fade away. That's when he saw it, a brilliant beam of light shoot up into the sky, coming from the direction of the battle that had claimed so many brother's lives.

He pushed the speeder faster, someone was there. He finally reached his destination to find the person responsible for the beam.

"Esinon?" he asked. She was on her knees, sitting on her feet with Waxer's helmet clutched tightly to her stomach as she finally met his eyes, tearing her gaze from the dozens of bodies that were strewn across the field. Her stare was hollow, empty, she looked broken- no, shattered. Rex knew that look. He was used to seeing it on shinies after their first battle, gaping at the remains of their brothers strewn out before them. It was the look of pain so great that the body and mind simply couldn't comprehend it and shut down, the look of being shocked into oblivion.

"Rex?" she whispered, her head tilting slightly like she was seeing a ghost.

"Esinon, what are you doing here?" he asked in shock kneeling down in front of her. She stared at him for a moment, reaching a hand out tentatively towards his chest plate.

"Are you alive?" she whispered, touching his chest plate almost in the assurance that he was actually there.

"Yes, I'm alive, what are you doing here?" She looked around, fingers tightening around the helmet in her arms.

"I- I went to find Waxer… because he wasn't answering me, and he- I don't- I don't understand. What- what happened?" Tear tracks were still fresh on her face. Rex opened his mouth to explain, tell her everything, about Krell, the suicide missions, Fives and Jesse's almost execution, Dogma's arrest, Krell's execution, except nothing would come out. The only noise that escaped his mouth was a strangled gasp, "Rex I don't understand!" She shouted, as strangled sobs escaped from her throat. He did the only thing he could do which was wrap her in a hug, "I-I'm sorry I-I shouted,"

"It's alright, I've been wanting to do a lot of shouting myself," he said, she shuffled a little closer.

"I saw memories," she said softly, "I've been trying to put the pieces together, but I don't understand." Rex had been thinking that same phrase a lot of times,

_'I don't understand.'_ He hadn't understood a lot of things that had happened during this mission. He thought Jedi were supposed to be the good guys, then he would look down at the small Jedi in his arms and remember he still had friends who were Jedi, who would never hurt him, who would always be there for him. General Skywalker wasn't like Krell, Ahsoka wasn't like Krell, Esinon wasn't like Krell.

"Come on, let's go back to the airbase, and I'll… I'll explain everything…" he pulled Esinon to her feet, holding onto her hand, hoping to keep her from making a decision to bolt. She was unpredictable, but she didn't look like she was going to run, instead, she stared out at the multitude of bodies. She bowed her head,

"Ni ceta," she whispered, Rex froze for a moment at the mando'a apology. One he knew but never had any use for. It was the highest form of apology one could give, this was not her fault. _This_ was NOT her fault. Except she would always take the weight of the galaxy on her shoulders, always. He had seen it. He tugged gently on her hand,

"Come on," she finally conceded and followed after him, still clutching Waxer's helmet. He drove back to base where an agitated Fives was waiting,

"Rex where have you-" he stopped seeing a grief-stricken Esinon sitting on the speeder, "What in the name of the force is she doing here?" he asked a little panickedly, she glanced up at him as Fives came to her side. Fives gently wrapped his little sister in a hug, she didn't even have the strength to hug him back, she just sat still with her head tucked against his chest plate.

"I found her where Krell sent us last, she went out looking for Waxer and his platoon." Rex explained, "I told her we'd tell her what happened, she needs to know."

"But what are we supposed to do about… this," he motioned down at Esinon who didn't appear to be paying attention to their conversation. Rex sighed,

"She'll come out of shock soon enough, I'll go get some meds from Kix. Just get her to the briefing room, don't let her stop to talk to anyone. She's already trying to take all of the guilt of the situation on herself." Rex left for the medbay if he was honest with himself, he was almost glad Esinon was here. She was someone to take care of, she was a distraction from all the swirling thoughts in his head. He took care of other people, that's how he coped. Would Esinon be there for him if he fell apart later, yes she would, she was always there when people needed her most.

* * *

Esinon hadn't interrupted once, she sat and listened quietly the whole time. Either she had no questions, was trying to fill out the flashes of memories with the new information, or had been stunned into silence. Rex wasn't exactly sure, he'd let Fives take the job of explaining most of what had happened. He needed to talk about it. Rex was watching Esinon, trying to gauge her reactions, reigning Fives in when he needed to take it down a few notches. Fives finally finished everything, the only thing they didn't explain was who killed Krell, only that he was dead. She looked down at the helmet in her arms that she had refused to let go of.

"Where's Krell now?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"Still in the brig," She got up,

"I'll go alone," she said, starting her walk, quite quickly, towards the brig. Rex put out an arm in front of her,

"Slow down kid, you shouldn't be going down there at all," he said, she shot him a look.

"I'm going whether you like it or not," she said, "You don't have to come, but… I need some closure." Rex removed his arm from in front of her as she began her walk again, Fives shrugged, following after the young General. Rex sighed, he didn't want to see Krell's body again, but Esinon was headed down there now and he'd rather she not go alone. Esinon finally made it to Krell's cell, where the body hadn't been moved or touched, still splayed out on the floor. She stared at the body, a mix of emotions rising up inside her, she mostly felt conflicted. This Krell was not the Krell she remembered from her youth,

* * *

"Now hold it like this, there you go," Krell said, adjusting her grip on her lightsaber. Esinon stuck out her tongue in concentration as she grounded her feet.

"Like this?"

"Scoot your feet together a little bit more you're going to fall into the splits," he teased, Esinon, who was no more than five-years-old, scooted her feet together, looking up at the Besalisk Master in anticipation. "Alright, now do your basics," she shifted into first position, then second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, as Krell watched as nodded smiling as the youngling concentrated. She finished and turned to him watching expectantly, "Very good, very good!" She grinned,

"Wait! Can I try your lightsaber?" she asked, looking at his two double-bladed sabers that lay at his side.

"Maybe when you're a bit older," he said, ruffling her hair,

"So you're saying I will get to one day," she said mischievously, Krell chuckled,

"One day little one, one day," he crouched down in front of her holding up all four hands, "Now high-fours all around." she slapped each one of his hands, reaching up on her tiptoes to reach the last one. "Good job!" Nadar entered the training room,

"Master Krell, I've come to fetch Esinon," He said, Esinon ran over to him as he scooped her up in his arms. Krell grinned at the youngling as she babbled to Nadar.

"And when I'm all grown up I want a big double-bladed lightsaber!" she said, throwing her arms up. Nadar chuckled,

"I see you had fun, thank you Master Krell,"

"Of course Nadar," he replied, watching the two leave the room. Esinon tucked her head on Nadar's shoulder,

"I like Master Krell," she said, with a yawn, Nadar glanced from her to his chrono.

"I see, it is naptime for you,"

"Awwww, come on Nadar," she whined, "Can't we play a game or something instead?"

"After you take a nap," he said, she finally conceded, closing her eyes.

"Remember I want a double-bladed lightsaber when I'm big," she said, with a yawn.

"I'll remember for you, don't you worry."

* * *

"Why would you do this?" she whispered, a hand over her mouth as she stared at Krell's body,

"Because he's an evil-"

"Fives," Rex chided, Esinon glanced back at both of them.

"It was war… he wasn't like this before the war. He wasn't cold or calculating. That's why Jedi have to be emotionless because the power can go to our heads," she muttered, "I have that power," she looked down at her hands, where electricity had sparked so many times. She knew what power she had, powers of the Sith. Powers that she tried to shove back downward, "I could become that,"

"No," Fives said firmly, walking over to her, "Now you listen to me. You are not Krell, you will never be Krell, got it?" She nodded, Fives was never one to beat around the bush.

"Sir, what would you like us to do with the Jedi's body?" Bravo asked, "He is no Jedi." Esinon spat with such venom in her voice, Rex wasn't even sure it was her anymore. She recomposed herself, her hands falling to rest behind her back. She walked over to Krell's cell, closing the door and slashing the control panel with her lightsaber. She knew that the angry troopers would try to get to the cell, so she was going to lock off the body forever. She turned around taking a deep breath, scanning a row of cells, and saw Dogma sitting in one, "Dogma? Rex… why is Dogma in a cell?"

"He's-"

"I shot Krell, General," Dogma said, standing up,

"No, it was me, I shot him. Krell is dead because of me. If there is punishment to be given it is to be given to me." Rex said, stepping forward,

"General Windcaster, Captain Rex is attempting to take blame for actions that were clearly mine. If there is punishment to be given, I ask it be placed on me." Dogma interrupted,

"Dogma!" Rex barked,

"Both of you stop!" she shouted, Rex swore he saw electricity crackle around her hands. She took a deep breath, "I'm sorry I yelled." She walked towards Rex, "I'm getting to the bottom of this," she placed her hand on Rex's shoulder, closed her eyes, and reached for the memory.

* * *

The elevator descended into the brig, she stared at where Krell was standing, smiling at her. Her hands clenched, as she tried to keep a calm composure. Fives walked over to Dogma's cell and opened it, and led the new trooper over behind her with Jesse. Dogma looked broken, and hurt, his eyes lifeless. Why was Dogma in that cell now? Krell was still alive, she refocused her attention back on the memory. She stepped forward and grabbed her pistol from its holster,

"Turn around, and step towards the wall," she commanded, trying to keep her hands from shaking as her heart pounded up into her throat. _I have to do this. He made me kill my brothers. This is for them. I have to do this._ Rex's thoughts pounded in her mind, made him kill his brothers? What did he mean? Krell rolled his eyes before obeying, she stepped towards him, gripping the DC tightly. "On your knees." Jesse pressed the button to open Krell's cell, and the rey shield fell. The besalisk chuckled, he could sense her growing fear,

"You're in a position of power now, how does it feel?" he asked in a sickeningly sweet voice. Her hands tightened their grip on the blaster,

"I said, on. Your. Knees." she growled, enunciating each word, leveling the blaster with Krell's heart. The besalisk finally obeyed, sinking to his knees.

"It feels good, doesn't it? But I can sense your fear." Her ice-cold expression faltered for a moment, her hands shaking, this went against everything she had ever been taught. _I pledge to be the best soldier I can be. I will fight for the Republic and all it stands for._

"You're shaking, aren't you?" Krell said, she tightened her grip, trying to pull herself back together._ I will follow without question, all orders that are given to me. I will fight to save the Republic from harm and occupation_. "What are you waiting for? The Umbarans are getting closer." _I will fight for my brothers, and my future Generals._

"I have to do this," said trying to convince herself, _For my brothers, for my brothers, for my brothers… Good soldiers follow orders, good soldiers follow orders._

"You can't do it can you?" Her finger came to rest on the trigger, debating on whether to lower her weapon, I will fight for my brothers. "Eventually you'll have to do the right thi-" Krell gasped as a blue bolt went straight through his heart, and he crumpled to the floor. She looked at her own blaster, wondering if she had unknowingly fired, she heard panting behind her and turned to see Dogma holding Fives's smoking DC.

"I… I had to." he gasped, his hands shaking, "He betrayed us." Fives gently removed the blaster from Dogma's hands, she turned back to the still body of Krell. _Good soldiers follow orders._

* * *

Esinon fell out of the memory, all of the troopers staring at her. She thumbed the inside of her sleeve, her hands still shaking and her heart pounding. She heard an echo through the force, "A Jedi? I am no longer naive enough to be a Jedi. A new power is rising. I have foreseen it. The Jedi are going to lose this war, and the Republic will be torn apart from the inside." She blinked a couple times,

"You alright?" Fives asked slowly, she nodded,

"Yeah- yes, I'm fine," she replied,

"What did you see?" Bravo asked,

"It is valiant to try and protect Dogma, Rex. And I know why you did." Esinon said, finally turning her gaze up from the ground. "But lying to me, doesn't help me help Dogma."

"I'm sorry, sir," Rex said, she could feel shame radiating off of him,

"It's ok. I just want to do my best to protect you. All of you." she sternly, looking around at the troopers in the room. "It's about kriffing time someone protected all of you. I want to say that I'm sorry, I'm sorry that I wasn't there when you needed me most." She gave a nod to Bravo to return them to the surface. Rex wished everyone could have heard that speech, because those who didn't know Esinon, didn't want to get within a klick of her.

**A few hours later…**

No reinforcements were coming, they didn't exactly need any, but now Esinon was acting General of the 212th, 501st, and 673rd, it was a lot of troopers to keep track of. The 673rd had returned to their cruiser and were probably having the biggest party of their lives since their abuse was over. Esinon felt guilty that she didn't realize how abused the men in Krell's legion had been.

It was hard to not feel guilty about all of this, she should have been here. She'd heard the things that the troopers had been saying about her, the constant watching of her hands and lightsaber as if she would strike them down at any second.

She was currently attempting to come up with a plan for tomorrow. They still had to find the tactical droid, and she had triangulated a possible position. Working kept her distracted from all of the thousands of emotions swirling in her mind.

Fives had disappeared to go be angry somewhere else and find Tup. The two had quickly become friends, Tup had just lost his entire squad and Dogma… Dogma.

She got up from her chair in the command center and headed down to the brig. She averted her eyes from Krell's body before she headed into Dogma's cell, she fogged Krell's cell. She entered Dogma's cell, sitting on the other side of his cell to make sure he didn't feel suffocated. Dogma didn't get up, he barely spared her a glance, keeping his eyes on his feet.

"I still can't decide if I made the right choice," he said quietly, shuffling his feet. "Part of me feels like I did…"

"And the other?" she asked gently,

"The other part thinks I deserve what's coming to me," Esinon's muscles clenched, clones didn't get trials, he would either be executed or reconditioned.

"You don't Dogma, you did the right thing,"

"That means a lot coming from you," he said quietly, she nodded giving a soft smile, "But I guess this is goodbye, considering everything,"

"Dogma," She said firmly, "I am not going to let anything bad happen to you, I promise." Dogma looked at her and then back to the floor, feeling there wasn't anything Esinon could do even if she tried.

"I- just make sure someone looks after Tup, please? He was always there for me, and there have been a lot of stupid things that I did during this siege that I wish I hadn't. I hurt a lot of my brothers, and I shouldn't be excused from those actions."

"Everyone makes mistakes, Dogma, and I will make sure that Tup stays safe. I promise," she said, she'd made plenty of mistakes, as Commander and a General.

"I hope that something that I did during my service made you proud," she stood up, walking over to Dogma and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Dogma you made me proud every day," she said, he looked up at her smiling softly. "I need to come up with a plan, and brief everybody, but I will be back," she said firmly, Dogma knew the look in her eyes. It was the look of she had just set her mind to something. Dogma didn't want to hope, he knew it was already over for him, but something deep, deep, down knew that Esinon didn't just mean coming back after the briefing, she meant that she would come back for him wherever he went next.

"Thank you General," she nodded before exiting the cell.

**A few hours later…**

Esinon hadn't realized how much of her adrenaline had faded until she fell asleep during her own briefing.

"General, Esinon, wake up," Rex said, prodding her shoulder. She shot up her features guarded, "You're alright," he assured, she blinked her eyes,

"Oh sorry, that wasn't very General-like," she rubbed her eyes, "Anyways, now that we have the plan more or less laid out… I- I think I should stay here tomorrow."

"Why?" the hologram of Uno asked,

"I've seen the way the troopers look at me, how can I lead them if they don't trust me?" she asked, she was hurt to say so. Troopers who normally looked to her for inspiration were cowering away from her. She felt broken, but she needed to be strong for all her troopers, like Obi-Wan would have been. The great Negotiator, brave in the face of danger, and the rock that held the 212th together. Now she was trying to be that rock for three battalions… but she just wasn't Obi-Wan.

"Sir, respectfully, if anyone has a problem with you being our leader, they'll have to go through us first," Uno said, fiercely, Esinon sat up a little bit more. She had never heard Uno talk like that, he was usually so quiet and reserved. Maybe it was because Krell was gone.

"I think if you talked to the men, it might ease their minds a little," Rex said,

"What do I say?" she asked,

"Whatever you want," the hologram of Cody replied, she sighed,

"Ok," she pressed the PA button, "Attention all troopers, this is Esinon Windcaster." She took a deep breath, just let it flow. "Tonight, I am not speaking to you not as a General, but as a friend. I know that what Krell has done has left scars on you, it's left scars on me too. He was one of my people, but he is no longer a Jedi. I know when you look at me, all you can see is the angry flash of a lightsaber and the sick feeling of death, but I am not him. I am my own woman. A woman who cares about you, who wants to see you live, and be the amazing troopers you all are. Krell demeaned you, by calling you by your numbers, making you feel like you are expendable. You are not expendable to me. You are men. The bravest men I have ever seen. I know that what Krell has done will not heal easily, or anytime soon, and I don't expect it to. If there is one thing you can take away from this, know that I will fight to my last breath to protect all of you." She didn't know how much she would mean those words until tomorrow.

**A few hours later…**

She couldn't sleep, how could she? Even though her body cried out for it, her mind didn't. She walked around the empty halls of the base, everyone was asleep at this point, at least she thought they were. As she walked past the hanger she heard an angry and sorrowful scream, she stopped, backed up and poked her head inside. She saw Rex standing in the middle of the hanger, a datapad clutched in his hand. He sighed, letting out one last scream just for good measure,

"Feel better?" she asked, standing in the doorway, Rex turned around, slightly startled by the presence of the Jedi. He shook his head, and then looked back down at the datapad in his hand. She called it to her hand, a casualty count, name after name after name, _Waxer, Chopper, Sketch, Jester, Punch, Sharkbait, Cosmo, Fidget, Zoom, Rainstorm, Push._ Her stomach clenched, she felt like she wanted to throw up. All of Gus's squad was gone. Tup and Dogma were the only remaining members of their squad, and so were Anchor and Bean. She wished she could comfort everyone, protect everyone, these deaths were on her. "This is to fill my head. Not yours," she said, shaking it slightly. Rex looked like he was wishing he could call the pad back to his hand, but unfortunately he wasn't a Jedi.

"You shouldn't either. Especially at your age," he said, sitting down on a couple of ammo crates,

"And you should?" she shot back, coming over and sitting down next to him.

"Yes. Every single man on that list… died because of me." he said, rubbing his hands over his head, and inhaling a sharp breath.

"Rex…"

"Fives and Jesse almost got executed. And I didn't say anything. I didn't say anything ever. And all those men died because of it," he whispered, burying his head into his hands. She knelt down in front of him, resting a hand on his knee,

"Rex, look at me," she said softly,

"I have to be strong enough, I have to be strong enough," he continued to mutter, shaking his head.

"You don't have to be,"

"They trusted me, Esinon. I let them down. They're dead because of me. I failed,"

"No,"

"I failed them," he continued to mutter, his voice threatening to break into sobs, "They were my responsibility, and now they're gone. All of them, they're all gone." She pulled her older brother into a hug and the dam finally broke, Rex continued to blabber nonsense in basic and mando'a as he sobbed into Esinon's shoulder, she rubbed his back gently. Just like he had for her all those years ago on Saleucami.

She'd never been exactly good at finding the best words to comfort other people, she was better at being there. So she hugged Rex tighter, there was no point in trying to be strong for his sake anymore, they were far beyond that point. She let herself cry, for everyone she couldn't save, for Krell's betrayal, and even for Obi-Wan's death. All the emotions she thought she had been working through- correction pushing away had come right back. She missed him, he never would have let any of this happen.

**The next day…**

Esinon flinched as another explosion roared on the field, even though battle took her mind off the gaping hole that Obi-Wan had left in her life, she still hated all that death that replaced it.

Explosions, blaster fire, and the screaming of her men was the only thing that pounded in her head. She tried extremely hard to act like she wasn't drowning in grief and sorrow, each morning she put on a brave face and walked out among her peers. She was handling it like a Jedi should, releasing her emotions into the force, but she had a lot more emotions than the force seemed to want to take.

But she had more pressing matters to deal with, another battalion of droids was on the horizon, one last-ditch effort in an attempt to slow the Republic's imminent victory.

She'd reunited with the 212th that very morning to lead the assault from the front. She'd sent the 501st to the north taking out Separatist pods. She ignited her lightsaber giving Cody a nod, he understood,

"The General's gonna cover while we attack," he explained, the rest of the clones nodded, she jumped off the ledge, lightsaber blazing, she deflected the volley of blasts, swiftly destroying the unfortunate droids who stood in her way, she became enveloped in what she was doing, trying to let all her pent up anger out into ever swing that came down on a droid.

She didn't notice when a droid pulled out a rocket launcher and fired upon a group of troopers not far from her position.

Crimson and searing white flashed in front of her eyes, as her body flew into the air.

As her vision came back into focus, she immediately screwed her eyes shut again, searing hot pain ripping through her body, with high pitched whining in her ears making it extremely hard to regain her bearings. She could feel something warm and wet at her side, she instinctively put her hand there, she could feel blood seeping out all over her, if she survived, Drummer was gonna kill her.

She opened her eyes finally, looking down at the crimson blood that was spilling out all over her shredded, tan, robes. She placed her hand on a nearby rock, forcing her body upward, despite its cries of protests, she called on the force, pushing all the blood back inside her body, she gritted her teeth and continued. She noticed how many of her men were injured, they needed attention more than she did,

"Cody!" she shouted, with the strength she could muster.

"General!" he shouted back, she could see his armor was stained with red, blood she could tell wasn't his own.

"Get the injured to the medical bay, there's a Seppie outpost not far from here. Round up some men, we're gonna take it." he nodded, before running off.

Luckily she had managed to cover her wound with the brown cloak that was just a tad bit big for her, and in the chaos, Cody hadn't noticed the large gash that was spanning her side.

She made her way to the medical tent, finding a bottle of painkillers. She swallowed a few dry, she grimaced in pain as she waited for them to kick in, just a little more, the finish line was in sight.

She limped back out of the tent to meet back up with Cody and a group of about ten troopers. They began making their climb towards the base, the painkillers were starting to take effect, and each step was becoming less painful. They soon made it to the base, they all plastered their backs to the walls,

Esinon hovered her hand over the blast door button and numbered off three on her fingers. She pressed the button, darting inside, she stabbed and slashed through the droids as the rest of the droids were destroyed by the clones.

They quickly pressed on to the control room, they burst through the door blasters blazing, taking out the poor droids still manning their stations. Esinon used the force to ram the tactical droid into her blade, slashing it pieces in seconds.

A few commandos came flipping around the corner, one of them tackling the Jedi general, Esinon struggled trying to push it off, losing her lightsaber. She gritted her teeth, as the commando's hand dug into the wound at her side, it took all her willpower to keep from screaming. The troopers were too enveloped in trying to take out the other commandos to help their struggling Jedi.

The commando pulled a blaster out trying to aim for her heart. She managed to grab the nose of the blaster, diverting it from her heart, but she only made it to her shoulder before the droid fired, she screamed in pain, calling her lightsaber and stabbing it up into the droid's chest.

It collapsed on top of her, and she just laid there underneath the droid as she concentrated on trying to push the large amount of blood that was currently soaking her robes back into her body.

Cody rushed over pushing the droid off of her, eyeing the blaster wound in her shoulder, "I'm fine," she grunted, pulling herself back to her feet, "Let's go, I'll cover our flank." Cody nodded, as they packed up and headed back down the mountain. He didn't have room to argue since there wasn't a medic among them. The only reason Esinon offered to cover their flank was so she could hide her growing pain, she limped slowly down the side of the mountain, trying to staunch the bleeding in her side while her arm was going numb.

Each step became more and more painful as white dots continued to swim in her eyes, they finally made it back to the camp, she saw troopers still being rushed to the medical bay, they needed more help than her, she was a Jedi.

She could do this, she needed to suck it up and get immediate care to the troopers who couldn't survive like she could. "Just get to the gunship, and back to the Negotiator, then you can rest." she murmured, her arm fully numb, as she continually struggled to keep her blood inside her body.

She saw Cody waving in a gunship that was headed back to the Negotiator with those who weren't severely injured, she started to walk towards the ship, but never made it that far.

* * *

**Umbara isn't over yet. The battle is just beginning.**

**Two cliffhangers in a row! I know, I'm mean but I've got writers block**

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: Not related to the chapter but, when Esinon got tired of doing push-ups with Gregor she would go sit on his back and read while he did push-ups. When she did that, Gregor quit counting how many push-ups he was doing, instead he counted how many pages Esinon had read. **

**'Kid, what page are you on' **  
**'200,' **  
**then later when Alpha would ask how many push-ups he did Gregor would say something like 'around 20 pages.'**

**Thanks for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	36. Aftermath

Cody waved to the General, who gave a weak smile as she made her way towards the gunship, but she never made it that far.

Esinon collapsed to the ground face down, Cody ran over, pushing the unconscious General's body over he finally noticed the large gash spanning her side, the blood that had soaked her robes, he silently cursed himself as he pressed his hands over the wound trying to slow the bleeding.

He should have noticed her pained grimaces that she tried to hide, the way she kept adjusting her cloak to cover something up, why didn't he pay better attention?

Drummer came sprinting over, with troopers carrying a stretcher behind him. Cody could hear him cursing under his breath, as he tried to keep their General alive, they couldn't lose their General, not again.

"We move her on the count of three," Drummer said, slowly wedging his hand underneath her side, Cody did the same on the other side, with Anchor and Bean at her head and feet, "One, two, three," they all lifted her, quickly moving her onto the stretcher, which sent her into a fit of coughs, sputtering blood everywhere,

"Hang on General," Bean whispered, as they rushed into the gunship up to the Negotiator.

Esinon groaned and cried out in pain with every slight jostle of the ship, she must have been experiencing hallucinations from the blood loss, Cody tried to ignore the intense vulnerability that the young woman was displaying.

She was usually so full of life, energy, and hope, but she had finally broken, the war and grief finally became too much. They were moving before the ship even finished docking, sprinting down the hallways, as red drops of blood splattered the pristine floor.

Drummer wasted no time, strapping an oxygen mask over the scarcely breathing Jedi, hooking up all kinds of tubes and bags with unnamed liquids inside them, pressing buttons on a control panel to keep the woman who lay there alive.

The medic didn't bother to cover up his looks of exasperation and the swears that kept escaping his lips. Everyone knew that Esinon had something against the medbay, and it made it impossible to treat the patient who refused to be treated.

Soon trainee medics came rushing in to help the exhausted medic save their dying General, all the troopers who were still gathered in the room were quickly ushered outside, all left in their anxious thoughts.

* * *

Rex finally clambered onto the last gunship headed for _The Negotiator._ That was it, they were finally done with this hell-hole of a planet called Umbara. After a week of non-stop fighting, they had finally captured the planet. The gunship pulled up into the sky, he noticed Fives's brow furrowed,

"Fives, you alright?" he asked,

"Something's wrong," he muttered, "Something's wrong with Esinon."

"Like what?"

"She's hurt," he said,

"How do you know?" Rex asked, Fives was starting to sound like a Jedi.

"I don't know how I know, but I do," he said, Rex brushed off the weird explanation as the gunship pulled onto the cruiser.

He was ready for some much-needed rest if no one needed him, he was gonna sleep for a week. He stepped off the gunship into the hanger and the first thing he noticed was a drying pool of blood and a trail of splatters that followed it.

He shared a look with Fives, the same thing on both of their minds. Whose blood was that? They both made their way towards the medbay where a hefty amount of troopers were standing, he could sense the tension among them and Cody was a mess.

"Cody… what's going on?" Rex asked, Cody looked over at the medbay door reluctantly before pushing them away from everyone else. He fidgeted with his armor,

"General Windcaster- Esinon, she got injured." Cody paused, biting his lip. "We're not sure if she's gonna make it," he whispered. The normally stoic soldier looked on the verge of breaking. Rex's heart dropped, after everything, she couldn't die. No, no she was too strong, too stubborn, too brave, too full of hope for the galaxy to take her this way. Rex didn't know what he would do if she didn't make it.

"H-how?" Fives asked,

"There was an explosion, I didn't think she got injured- she looked ok- I thought she was ok," Cody said, starting to spiral downward,

"Hey, hey, hey," Rex grabbed Cody's shoulders,

"It's my fault, it's my fault, I can't lose another General." Rex wrapped Cody in a hug,

"It's not your fault, it's Esinon, she'll pull through. She has to." Rex said, trying to reassure himself as much as Cody. When he released Cody, Fives was already gone, he probably needed to be by himself for a little bit. That's how Fives processed most of the time now, by being alone, so Rex was gonna give him the space to do so.

**Twenty minutes later...**

The worn medic stepped out, the medbay door closing behind him. Drummer sighed pinching his the bridge of his nose,

"She's going to be fine, but she cut it close. Too close," he said, a sigh of relief fell over the small group of troopers that had been anxiously waiting. "Cody, you should probably go report to the high Generals." Cody nodded his head, starting towards the command center before Rex stopped him.

"I'll take care of it," he said, Cody nodded, looking for Drummer's approval to enter the medbay, the medic nodded and a worried Cody entered. Rex made his way to the command center, steeling himself. He placed his helmet under his arm and stood at attention as he waited for the Generals to answer. General Windu and Skywalker appeared on the holo with Commander Tano behind him.

"Where is General Windcaster?" Windu asked,

"She is resting sir, she was severely injured during our most recent battle," Rex replied, he noted the glance that Skywalker and Tano shared at the revelation of the information.

"So was the mission a success?" Windu asked,

"Yes sir, Umbara is completely under Republic control, and all Separatist pods have been taken care of," Rex said, Esinon had explained everything about Krell last night when she contacted the council. "Bring Windcaster back to Coruscant and we'll have a Jedi healer look at her." Windu's hologram disappeared leaving only Skywalker and Tano.

"Rex, be ready for our arrival, I'm coming on board," Skywalker said,

"Yes sir," he said, as the transmission ended. Rex heaved a sigh, trying to keep his emotions in check, before walking back off to the medbay, maybe Drummer would let him inside. He was about to step into the medbay when he realized that Fives had been alone for far too long. He needed to find that ARC before he did something stupid.

**A few minutes later…**

Rex finally tracked Fives down in the barracks, none of Blitz squad was there, they were all busy unloading new supplies. Most of them were probably oblivious to the fact that Esinon had almost died… well they didn't know how she'd hold up overnight. There could always be complications. Rex shook his mind from that unsure place and focused his attention back on Fives. The ARC had his elbows on his knees and his forehead pressed against his fists.

"Fives, are you-" he paused, ok wasn't the right word. Of course he wasn't ok. "How are you holding up?" Fives shrugged, his knee beginning to bounce. "Fives, are you gonna be ok-"

"Do I look ok?" he snapped, rising to his feet, clutching something in his hands. "Esinon is dying, so no. No Rex, I am not ok."

"Fives I didn't mean it like that-"

"Why does she have to be so stubborn? Why can't she just preserve her life for once instead of trying to be everybody's savior? That's not fair!" The ARC ranted, now pacing the room.

"Fives, she's hurting-"

"We're all hurting, alright! But you don't see me running off and almost getting myself kriffing killed! We all went through the nightmare that was Umbara, and I'm not ignoring a serious injury!"

"Fives, she's trying to prove that she can be a General. That she isn't Krell." Rex explained, trying to calm his tyrading brother down.

"We all already know that," Fives said, exasperatedly sliding down against the wall.

"You saw the men last night, they wouldn't get within a klick if they didn't know her as long as we have. We've seen General Windcaster at her worst. We know she's human, they don't." Rex said, motioning the bustle of brothers that lay outside the ship.

"I…" Fives pressed his head to his knees. "I can't lose her," Rex walked over sitting down next to Fives.

"And you won't,"

"You don't know that," Rex sighed, putting an arm around his brother.

"You're right, I don't."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?" Fives grumbled, Rex finally got a look at what Fives had been holding this whole time. Dog tags. It was a pair of dog tags. How he'd gotten those was beyond him, since they weren't GAR issued. Clones were identified by their number, so tags weren't necessary.

"You didn't let me finish." Rex said, pulling himself back to the moment, "You have her right now. At this moment in time, General Esinon Windcaster is alive, so I would suggest spending as much time with her as possible." Fives glanced down at his armor, where Scipian markings lay over his heart. Hope in the face of adversity. That's what those markings meant to him. Hope. He had to have hope, for Esinon's sake. He needed to be a beacon of hope for her, as she had done so many times for him. Hope that things can and will get better. Hope for a better tomorrow.

**Coruscant Prison…**

"So Kenobi, another padawan?" Quinlin asked, Obi-Wan nodded, he'd only had Esinon for a few weeks. They'd just finished their mission of setting up Republic bases on Kashyyyk. "I thought after Anakin you'd be all done," Obi-Wan shrugged,

"I'm grateful for the little scamp, although she can be quite the handful sometimes." he said with a chuckle. Quinlin grinned,

"Sounds like Aayla when she was around Little blue's age," Obi-Wan sighed,

"Of course you would have already given her a nickname,"

"Eh, I'll be who I am, war or not." he replied,

"Master Vos! Master Vos!" Esinon came running forward, holding the hand of a wookie. "I can't understand what he's saying," The wookie repeated whatever he said to Esinon,

"Well he says that he was glad you came to visit, and the Republic is welcome here anytime." he translated, Esinon's face lit up.

"Really!"

"Yes little blue, really," Quinlin said, ruffling her hair.

"Esinon, we're packing up to leave, I want you to head back to camp and find Cody. We'll be headed back to the cruiser soon."

"Ok," She headed off in the direction of camp,

"She's a sweet girl," Quinlin murmured,

"I'm glad you agree,"

"At least she'll keep you from becoming an old man," he teased,

_"Quinlin,"_

**A few hours later…**

Obi-Wan finally made his way back to camp, noticing his padawan was missing.

"Cody, did Esinon already head back to the cruiser?" he asked, the clone looked up from his datapad,

"I thought she was still with you and General Vos." he said slowly, Obi-Wan's stomach flipped, his padawan was missing on a planet full of dangerous animals. He pressed his comlink,

"Esinon, state your location," he said, trying not to panic. The com only responded with static, "Wherever she is, she doesn't have a signal."

"I'll send out search parties," Cody replied, Obi-Wan nodded,

"I'll go out now, and contact Quinlin to keep an eye out for her as well." And with that Obi-Wan set off to find his padawan. He searched for what felt like hours, probing at their still forming bond. His fear was slowly starting to grow, what if she was injured, or terrified, she probably was so scared. He tried to center himself knowing that panicking wasn't going to help. "Esinon! Esinon!" he turned around another tree to find his padawan, sitting at the base of a tree, trembling. She had her head tucked in her knees and her knees tucked her to her chest. "Esinon, are you alright?" She looked up at him,

"Master?" she asked shakily, at the moment he was busy gently uncurling her body from herself to search for injury. He didn't find any, she just seemed scared, her whole force aura was radiating fear.

"What's wrong? Did you get lost on the way back to camp?" She nodded,

"I- I saw ships leaving. I thought you had… abandoned me." She whispered, Esinon didn't talk about her past often, but it was always with upset and fear. "It's stupid, I know,"

"No, it's not stupid," he assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him,

"But I thought Jedi weren't supposed to be afraid," She said, Obi-Wan sighed,

"Well what did I say we do when we feel afraid?" he asked,

"We acknowledge it, and then let it go." she said, her force aura starting to calm itself.

"That's right," he praised, "I'll never leave you behind Esinon, I promise."

* * *

Obi-Wan thumbed the inside of his sleeve, a habit of Esinon's he had picked up. He felt guilty every day he was away from his… his family. He knew something was wrong with Esinon, he could sense her in distress. He bounced his knee anxiously wishing he could contact someone to ask if she was ok, to go to her, to apologize for everything. But he couldn't, he had to complete this mission. This mission and he would never do something like this again.

"I promise Esinon, this is my last one," he whispered,

* * *

Cody didn't say anything he just sat, listening to the quiet beeping of the heart monitor, it was a comforting sound that reminded him his General was still alive. He ran a hand over his face, he felt like a terrible soldier. He couldn't save General Kenobi, and he had barely managed to save his current one. Why did Jedi have to be so stubborn? He was torn from his thoughts at the beeping of his comlink,

"Cody, General Skywalker is here," Rex said,

"Alright, I'll be there in a minute," he sighed, getting up, giving one last glance at his General before heading towards the hanger. The two Jedi fighters landed letting out Commander Tano and General Skywalker,

"How's she doing Cody?" he asked, before he even got out of his fighter.

"She's stable, but resting." Cody responded, as they immediately made their way back to the medbay, Drummer was not gonna like it having Skywalker in his medbay. The clone Commander's comlink buzzed once again, "What now?" he grumbled to himself, before answering.

"Commander Cody," General Fisto said, "I was calling to see about my padawan's condition." Cody flinched slightly at the reminder of the fact that General Kenobi was no longer alive.

"She is going to be fine, General, she is resting. I can call you when she wakes up if you like."

"I would like that very much Commander, thank you." The transmission ended, he hurried towards the medbay, hoping that Skywalker and Drummer hadn't started a full-on brawl.

**A few hours later…**

Anakin sat in the medbay, bouncing his leg impatiently, waiting for Esinon to wake up. Another injury she had 'forgotten' to treat while in battle, why did she have to be just as stubborn as Obi-Wan was? He was torn from his thoughts when a small grunt came from the bed, Esinon's eyes starting to open,

"Anakin?" she mumbled, "What happened?"

"You got injured, and ignored it. Esinon you almost died," he said sternly,

"Nothing you wouldn't have done," she grumbled, scrunching her eyes closed at the bright lights.

"Esinon this isn't about me-"

"That's a first," she mumbled, grimacing at the bandages around her abdomen.

"Excuse me?"

"It's always about you Anakin, everything, everything is always about you. This isn't about me almost dying, this is about you being worried I almost died. I can't spare your precious anxiety for a mission. I did what I needed to do and that's the end of the story." she huffed, still unable to yell from all the pressure in her chest from her broken ribs.

"Esinon, you almost DIED. Don't you get that?!" Anakin shouted, "This isn't about me, it's about you! You've been acting different ever since-"

"Since Obi-Wan died? Yeah, but you haven't even noticed because you haven't been around! You've been so wrapped up in your own grief, you didn't even bother to come to see if I was ok. I was promoted to General of a battalion not even twenty-four hours after Obi-Wan died! I'm sixteen! Everything is about you! Even Obi-Wan's death is about you! It's how Anakin's feeling, what Anakin wants, how Anakin's struggling! I'm struggling!" she burst into a fit of coughs, splattering blood all over her pristine white medical gown, Drummer rushing over, pressing an oxygen mask over her face,

"It's alright, deep breath," he muttered, as Esinon's breathing slowed back to normal, "I'm sorry General Skywalker, but you need to leave." Drummer said, as he wiped the blood away from Esinon's mouth and face.

"It's fine, I was just going anyway," Anakin said, stalking out of the medbay,

**A few hours later…**

Everything ached, Esinon tilted her head slightly, looking at the wires snaking out from the sleeve of her medical gown. She could feel soft bandages around her abdomen and shoulder, a heart monitor over her finger, and an IV in her arm. Drummer was checking over a few things, taking notes on a datapad. She smiled weakly at him, and he gently squeezed her hand before leaving. There wouldn't be any long rants or reprimands from Drummer today, she heard the blast door whoosh open. She turned her head slowly to see Fives and Rex in the doorway,

"We're not here to yell at you if that's what you're wondering." Fives joked half-heartedly. She would laugh if she had the strength to, but all she could muster was a small smile. After her blow up with Anakin, she didn't feel like doing anything, she just wanted to sleep. Fives's smile faltered for a second,

"We just wanted to see if you needed anything," Rex said, she heaved a sigh, grimacing at the pain she felt in her chest and abdomen,

"Can you just… sit with me?" she asked shyly,

"Of course Taz," Fives said, pulling up a chair next to her bed. She wheedled her hand into his, they didn't come to question her, they didn't come to reprimand her, they just came to sit with her. They were some of the first people to do that since Obi-Wan died. She appreciated the 212th's efforts to help her through this, but they just kept pushing her to open up when she didn't want to open up. She just wanted to sit, like this, this was nice.

* * *

Rex didn't show how nervous he was, putting up his mental shields at full capacity so that the Jedi couldn't sense all the turmoil in his mind. A hologram of the still bed-bound Esinon glanced at him, flashing a couple ARC signs,

_'Mace Windu only looks scary,_' she discreetly signed back,

_'Uh-huh, shouldn't you be resting?'_ she shook her head,

_'First day I've been awake since the medbay. Besides, I've got work to do._' Rex sighed, she was really content on working herself to the bone, wasn't she? He knew she was already ticked that she couldn't do anything to help Dogma, but the rumor was that she was trying to get custody of him.

The trooper had already been sent to Kamino, which had sent Esinon in a frustrated rage, except she couldn't yell, or move very much, but it was written all over her face when they had to tell her Dogma had already been convicted.

Dogma didn't even get a trial. Rex didn't need to be a Jedi to know that she was upset about the possibility of him also being convicted. He didn't exactly know what kind of blow-up she would have if he was convicted, but he was preparing for the worst and had told Fives to be on standby if anything happened. Rex knew there would be no amount of temple guards or Jedi that could keep Fives from getting to Esinon if he needed her. He quickly signed again,

_'Do the Jedi ever let you rest?'_ She shrugged her shoulders, she was about to answer when Master Windu came walking in with Master Yoda, waddling not far behind him. Rex stood at attention, Master Yoda quickly made the motion that it was ok for him to fall into parade rest.

The Chancellor entered next his blood-red robes swishing around his ankles. He was followed by two guards who stood by the door, as their leader sat down at his desk, steepling his fingers.

"Captain Rex, Masters Windu and Yoda, Padawan Windcaster, it is so good to see all of you."

"Good to see you too, it is Chancellor. Although under better circumstances, I wish it was." Master Yoda said, tapping a claw against his cane.

"Indeed, I have read the full mission report of Umbara," the Chancellor said, grabbing a datapad and pulling up the numerous reports on the cataclysm that was Umbara. Palpatine scanned a few lines, frowning. "And, Captain, you were the one who ordered Krell's execution?"

"Yes sir," Rex said quietly, he saw Esinon's brow line furrow ever so slightly.

"Rex had his reasons," Esinon said, trying to sit up a little taller and giving up with a pained grimace. He quickly signed at her,

_'Take it easy,'_ Esinon frowned and signed back,

_'Tell it to the Chancellor,'_

"And would he care to share those reasons?" Palpatine asked,

"Sirs, at first we believed Krell was just being reckless…" Rex began, his mind swirling in the hellish nightmare of Umbara. "Then as the suicide missions continued, we kept going. We knew that something wasn't right when he turned…" he paused, sucking in a harsh breath, desperately to keep it together. "When he turned the 212th battalion and my battalion against each other. He told us that the enemy had seized weapons and armor, and told the 212th the same. We managed to capture Krell, and General Windcater captured the capital. The remaining Umbarans were heading to the airbase, and if Krell was captured… he would turn over all of our intel, it would have been a crippling blow to the Republic."

"This is troubling," Palpatine said, resting his chin on his hands. "Padawan, were you there at the time this took place?"

"No, I was taking care of some last-minute things at the capital before I… I arrived at the airbase," Esinon replied,

"I acted of my own free will," Rex said, "And you believe Krell aligned himself with the Separatists?" Master Windu asked,

"Yes sir, he told me himself," Rex replied,

"Do you have any proof?" The Chancellor asked, he stopped,

"Other than being there, no…" he mumbled, Esinon shoved herself into a semi-sitting position.

"Then how are we supposed to believe you?" Palpatine inquired,

"I don't know sir," Rex replied, trying to resist the urge to shrink away.

"The charges of ordering the execution of your General are high charges indeed," Rex's stomach flipped, "Until we have proof, we can only assume there is a malfunction in your design."

"A malfunction?" Esinon asked, her voice laced with shock and disgust. "Are you kidding me? A malfunction! Rex is the reason the Republic isn't falling apart, and the Separatists don't have all of our intel!" she shouted, grimacing at the strain that yelling was putting on her chest, but she didn't care. She took a deep breath, centering herself, as Rex stared at her shell-shocked. "If this is how we're going to treat troopers who think for themselves, by saying they have a malfunction, we are going to lose this war. Because we have troopers who can think, who can plan, who can make decisions for themselves, we have the edge in battle. Krell committed treason and sedition against the Republic, any clone trooper who committed such heinous acts would be executed without a trial. Rex does not have a malfunction, we should be celebrating him as a hero of the Republic not a piece of machinery that isn't working right." She finally went quiet, staring down the Chancellor and the two masters.

"Dismissed, both of you are, discuss this we will." Master Yoda said, Esinon ended her transmission in a huff, and Rex left in a hurry from the uncomfortable situation, still too shocked to speak. He made his way back to the barracks where a good portion of the 501st was waiting for him.

"So, how'd it go?" Fives asked tentatively,

"I-uh- I don't know…" he began slowly,

"Is that a good or bad I don't know," Jesse asked,

"Um- Well, General Windcaster yelled at the Chancellor and Generals Windu and Yoda when the Chancellor said I had a malfunction. She uh- negotiates like a Kenobi with the aggressiveness of a Skywalker."

"That's our girl," Fives said, proudly, his chest swelling,

"She really meant that on Umbara, didn't she," Tup murmured,

"If there's one thing I can always guarantee about General Windcaster, she always means what she says," Rex said, finally relaxing a bit. He wondered if he could get into the temple to see her, and thank her. No one had really defended him like that, but she really meant it. She would fight to her last breath to protect all of them.

**Back in the Chancellor's office…**

"She is just as fiery as her father," Palpatine murmured, Master Windu nodded in agreement. "Do you think we should take the word of General Windcaster? That Krell truly was corrupted,"

"Krell was always different from other Jedi, and had a certain darkness that surrounded him as the war continued."

"Takes time to listen to the clones Esinon does, cares for them deeply she does." Master Yoda remarked, "Loyal, Captain Rex is, proved himself many times he has. If executed Krell he has, good reason he must have."

"Are you suggesting that we let Captain Rex continue to serve?" Mace asked, Yoda nodded,

"A careful eye on him, we shall keep. If more behavior like this he displays, reassess the situation we will." Yoda replied,

"There is one more problem, we now have an entire legion that is General-less," Palpatine said,

"Thought of this we have, a new knight, recently appointed in the order." Master Yoda said,

"Her name is Jayla Archer, and we think she'd be a good fit for the 673rd, but we are planning to rename the legion to the 818th." Master Windu said,

"Very good, I'll have Commander Uno informed."

**A few hours later…**

Esinon was not happy at the moment, if one more person called Rex defective, she was gonna lose it. She was surprised that Master Yoda and Master Windu hadn't come to reprimand her after her little blow-up, instead, she found a very uncomfortable Anakin standing in the doorway of her hospital room. He hadn't come to see or talk to her since their blow up on the Negotiator.

"Hey Speeds," he said quietly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hi Anakin," He tentatively walked over to her bed and sat down on the edge.

"How you feeling?" he asked,

"Better, everything still hurts though," she mumbled,

"That's good," An awkward silence fell over the two of them, Anakin running his organic hand over his metal one. "I wanted to come to say I'm sorry, about the Negotiator…"

"I'm sorry-"

"Please let me finish." He said, looking up at her, she fell silent again as his gaze fell back into his lap. "You were right. I haven't been there for you, or Ahsoka, and I'm a bad master because of it, and I'm really sorry about that. I-" he paused, Esinon could see his chin quivering a couple of tears trickling down his face. She leaned forward placing her hand over his flesh one, "I really miss him," he whispered,

"Me too,"

"I don't know how he dealt with all of us, we're barely holding together without him." Anakin whimpered, Esinon didn't remember who pulled who into a hug first, but both of them were crying by the end of their talk. Both of them were hugging each other tightly while recounting their favorite memories of Obi-Wan, and from then on out, Obi-Wan's death hurt a little less.

**A few days later…**

She had been discharged from the halls of healing after the last days in the bacta tank and covered in healing crystals. Master Allie said that she wanted the rest of the wound to heal naturally. But after her episode on Umbara, the council had put her on leave for the next ten weeks, and she wasn't exactly happy about it. She limped down the halls of the temple on crutches towards a waiting speeder. The council was sending her to a psychologist that normally examined clones before she was allowed to leave for Mandalore, which is the place she had chosen to go for the next ten weeks. She didn't want to go to a psychologist, but all of the clones who had been involved in Umbara had to go. She sat down in the speeder, her side aching as she eased herself down.

"How are you feeling today sir?" Thirye asked,

"Better," she said, trying to get into a comfortable position with the bandages still around her abdomen, as she set her crutches down next to her. They rode in silence to the psychology office until Thirye pulled up to the landing deck, she didn't get up for a moment, staring at the building.

"Don't worry General, Doc Bosa is super nice. He won't push too far," he assured her, she sighed, getting out of the speeder and heading inside.

* * *

When Master Windu called and said he had another patient, he wasn't expecting to see a Jedi sitting on the couch. She didn't look exactly thrilled to be there either, he recognized her to be Esinon Windcaster. She had been all over the holo-net after the sudden passing of General Kenobi.

"Hello General Windcaster, I'm Dr. Bosa, a psychologist picked by the Republic to examine normally clone troopers, but today… you." he stuck out his hand for her to shake, she shook his hand firmly, "You shake hands like a soldier."

"It's because I shake hands with soldiers," she said, he smiled gently at her, watching her posture. She sat straight with her hands in her lap, she stared at him with a calm expression, but she had dark bags under her eyes and she just looked exhausted and sad. The Zabrak cleared his throat, sitting down,

"Do you know why you're here, General?" he asked, looking over her report.

"You can just call me Esinon, and everyone who was involved in Umbara has to come here." She sounded frustrated,

"Mmhmm, I've talked to many of the troopers who were involved and they spoke about you. Of course, I can't tell you what they said for confidentiality's sake, but a lot of them care for you in the way family cares for one another."

"They are my family," She said, sharply, she folded her arms over her chest defensively.

"Back to Umbara, it must have been tough as General of the 212th, not knowing what Krell was doing," Bosa said, she scrunched her eyes shut seemingly trying to fight off pain... or memories.

"I can't control anyone's actions but my own." she said, her fist clasping the sleeve of a cloak that looked to be too big for her.

"That doesn't make his betrayal any easier." he probed,

"No. It doesn't," she said, gritting her teeth.

"You lost a lot of troopers on Umbara, and not the way you were expecting. That must have been hard," he said, trying to get her to open up. Talking to Jedi was a lot harder than the clones,

"Yeah, try having nightmares of their memories," she grumbled, running a hand down her face.

"Is that why you look so tired?"

"What doc? Never had a nightmare?" she shot back,

"I have your medical record here from the past few weeks. There are a lot of nightmares documented here, starting with the night…"

"Obi-Wan died?" she said through clenched teeth,

"Yes, my condolences," he said, he had never known the man personally, but all of the 212th's men had always spoken very highly of him.

"Thanks, I guess," she mumbled,

"Losing your Master, I can't imagine what that's like." he said, rubbing the edge of his datapad.

"Trying not to think about it," she replied, hugging the cloak around her tighter, at that moment he realized why the cloak was too big, it was Obi-Wan's.

"It might be good to think about it here, without anybody watching. It's ok to miss someone," She forced a chuckle,

"I guess you've never been a Jedi then." she replied, slouching back onto the couch.

"So you're feeling like you can't miss Master Kenobi?" he baited,

"Have you ever evaluated any Jedi?" she asked,

"A few," she heaved a sigh, "So, do you feel as if you're not allowed to miss Master Kenobi?"

"This is like Drummer's safety circle," she muttered, "No- I- I don't know! It's… complicated."

"Complicated how?" he probed, she sighed,

"Being a Jedi means no attachment. Of any kind. I can't make it look like I miss Obi-Wan, or I'll be questioned by the council. I have men to lead, and Separatist bases to destroy, I have planets to recapture, and battles to strategize. I don't have the luxurious time to grieve like no Jedi want me to, and every clone is begging me to." she said, throwing her hands up slightly before they collapsed back down on the couch.

He spotted her tunic bulging slightly where bandages must be, she had gotten injured severely on Umbara, and from what Captain Rex had told him, it wasn't completely because of the battle. This next tactic he was going to try to get the young Jedi General in front of him to open up, but he wasn't exactly sure how she was gonna react.

"Now a clone in particular voiced his concerns about you, Captain CT-7567-"

"Rex. His name is Rex." she snapped, her fists balling, "He is a man, he is not a number. He has a name. He is my brother, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't call him by his number." She sat up, glaring at him,

"I see you're very protective of him,"

"He would do the same for me," she growled,

"Is that why you ignored injury on the field, for him?"

"Oh my-" she rubbed her hands over her face, "I don't know! I'm sick of losing people alright? If I have to die to keep Rex, Fives, Cody, any trooper safe, I'm gonna do it! Because I couldn't save Obi-Wan, and as long as I'm breathing, I'm not going to let anyone else die!" she shouted, "I can't, I can't- I can't lose someone again." she whimpered, her hands shaking as her breathing became heavy. He placed a comforting hand on her knee,

"Is that the first time you've admitted any of that?" he asked softly, she nodded, clenching the sleeves of her cloak tightly. "Has anyone at the temple attempted to talk to you about this?"

"They haven't seemed to care until I almost died," she joked gravely,

"It feels good to get some of that out, doesn't it?" he said,

"Yeah, yeah it does." she said, smiling softly, "I've gotta be strong everywhere else."

"No matter how strong you are, everyone needs to let go every once in a while," he said, sitting back,

"So now what?" she asked, sitting back up, "We let that sit there out in the air, or do you pull out a healing crystal and start chanting." she joked, he chuckled to himself,

"Unfortunately it's not that simple," he replied, he was glad she was finally seeming to relax after being so tense. She had probably still been on edge from all the days of battle she had been put through recently. She ran her hands through her tangled dirty-blonde hair.

"Were you trying to tick me off on purpose?" she asked tentatively,

"Yes, I apologize for that, but you weren't opening up, so that was my best option. You don't seem like the type to hold a grudge, not a textbook tactic, but it works from time to time," he replied,

"What now?" she asked again,

"It takes time to heal properly," Bosa admitted, "But you've opened up a little, and that's a good start." She looked down at the ground for a moment, before she began to open up more.

"On Umbara… I wasn't with the 501st. Krell sabotaged the transmitter, and none of them could contact me for help." she began slowly, "I have this power, where I can see memories… and sometimes when someone is in enough distress, they can unknowingly send me their memories."

"And this happened on Umbara?" he asked, she nodded,

"Things were starting to look up, we were making ground on the capital, and that's when it happened. The force surged, and it felt like I was being suffocated by darkness, I couldn't see full memories, but I got a whole lot of flashes. I could feel Rex calling out to me, pleading for me to come and save him." she paused, biting the bottom of her lip, "I passed out, and all the darkness… it rattled me more than I'd like to admit. It made me feel weak. I didn't like it, especially when I had learned all of what Krell had done."

"And so you wanted to make a show of strength through toughing out your injury?" he asked,

"After we took the capital, I decided to go look for Waxer and his platoon because no one was responding to me. I ran to their last known position and all I found was… decimation. When Rex found me, all of my senses were scrambled, and the only thought in my mind was that I was Jedi. I can tough these things out in ways that my men can't, and I didn't want to lose anyone more… so I ignored it."

"And evidently it backfired on you," she nodded with a half-hearted chuckle. The room went quiet for a moment as he stared down at the datapad. He was about to ask another question when Esinon's comlink buzzed,

"Blur," she answered,

"General Windcaster," Thorn said, Thorn only called when Boba was acting up. She didn't have time for this, but she was gonna have to make time for it.

"Stop right there, I'll be over in a few minutes," she replied, she ended the transmission, "I'm sorry, but my kid needs me."

"Your kid?" he asked tentatively,

"Oh, yeah, that's what me and the troopers call Boba. They call me whenever he's acting up, we just call him my kid." she said, grabbing her crutches and hoisting herself to her feet, with a few pained grimaces. "I'm sorry we have to cut this short, and I can't come back for a while. I leave for Mandalore tomorrow morning."

"It's alright, my sessions with the troops usually get cut short too. No rest for the weary, but you made great progress today." he said, smiling broadly at her. "If you need anything while you're on leave, don't hesitate to call."

"Thank you Doctor Bosa, I really appreciate it." And with that, the Jedi was gone.

**A few minutes later…**

"What did Boba do?" She and Thorn walked towards the prison,

"He got into a fight with Rako Hardeen sir," she stopped dead in her tracks, "Sir, are you alright?"

"Yes, I want to see Hardeen as well."

"That can be arranged," Thorn said as they walked into the prison.

* * *

"I already know what you're gonna say," Boba said, as she entered the cell, a bruise starting to form on his cheekbone.

"No you don't," he stopped staring at her confused, "I was gonna say good work. Now I'm not condoning fighting with other prisoners, you need to stop doing that, but that sorry excuse for a lifeform, Hardeen deserved it."

"What did he do to you?" Boba asked, with a tint of concern,

"He killed my Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Now, no more starting fights with other prisoners, I'm going to talk to Hardeen." she turned around and made her way back onto the pod as gracefully as she could on crutches.

* * *

Obi-Wan sat up in his cell hearing the sound of a transport nearing, he could see a woman standing there with the troopers and Commander Thorn. Hang on, not just any woman, Esinon, with a very scary looking scowl on her face. Oh no, this wasn't good. Wait, was she on crutches? What had his padawan done this time to injure herself? The rey shield on the cell fell as she stepped inside. She reached out a hand using the force to drag his orange uniform into her fist, a snarl forming on her face as she socked him in the stomach significantly winding him, she punched like an ARC trooper.

"Listen up you piece of rank weed," she growled, "First you're killing Jedi, and now you're picking fights with children? What kind of sick twisted creature are you?"

"He picked the fight with me," Obi-Wan retorted, after being rudely attacked by Boba Fett in the mess hall. She smacked him across the face, jabbing a finger into his chest,

"I'm doing the talking here, I would love nothing more than to dump you in a cave on Vanqor with a very hungry gundark, and seal the exit but the man you killed would rather you rot in prison." She glared at him with such ferocity, his padawan was very intimidating when she wanted to be, he would be proud if he wasn't on the receiving end of it. "You're lucky there are cameras in here." she whispered in his ear, throwing him roughly to the ground, before walking back towards the transport.

"And you say I'm sick and twisted," he grunted,

"Go to hell," she snapped,

* * *

**Umbara aftermath, always fun... **

**Featuring Esinon finally getting the therapy she needs!**

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: ****Esinon has an ewok brother, she misses him most out of all the ewok's in her tribe because he brought her food on the night before Master Windu found her. I brought him up a couple chapters ago. **

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	37. Confusion and Confessions

**One day later, Mandalore…**

The first thing Esinon learned about leave was that she was very, very, bad at it. She was bored out of her mind. There was nothing to do, she'd resorted to sitting on her ship where she felt comfortable. The large ornate halls of Sundari felt so empty, it made her uncomfortable. She tucked her knees to her chest, resting her chin on top, Spinner let out a low whistle.

'_When are we going to go back inside? I've spent most of my life on this ship and I want to explore.' _he complained, Esinon glanced down at her astromech.

"You can go inside if you want Spinner…. I just need a few more minutes."

'_You've been saying that for last twenty few more minutes.' _he huffed, she chuckled,

"Yeah, I guess I have,"

'_So you gonna tell me what's wrong or are we gonna keep playing 'I spy'?' _he asked, she sighed. She'd told Satine she was out here, and as much as the Duchess wanted her to sleep, it was hard sleeping in a bed so soft and in an unfamiliar place. She was debating about just sleeping here tonight, she had quarters with three sets of bunks beds. They had never really needed that many since she and Obi-Wan were normally the only ones who used this ship. Now it was just her…

"I dunno Spinner, it's… it's just this is my first leave without Obi-Wan. And it's for so long, almost two months…" she murmured,

'_But the Duchess is here, you know her. And Korkie, Korkie is either at school or at home-" _

"He's here, he's on break for the next two weeks,"

'_Great, you two can catch up on all those movie nights that never happened. Come on, let's go find him.' _

"No, I'll find him, you go to my quarters," she said, grabbing her crutches, Spinner grumbled before obeying as Esinon started into the palace. Her crutches clicked on the floors as she attempted to navigate the palace, she could do this, she'd been to a lot of big places and had done just fine. She gave nods to guards, and different servants as she passed, there were a lot of places Korkie could be, was what she was realizing. She finally pressed her comlink calling Spinner, "Hey, I need you to send me schematics of the palace."

"_I told you, you should have let me come." _

"Spinner just send me it," she grumbled,

"_Fine," _a few seconds later a map of the palace appeared on her wrist, with a red dot marking where she was, and a blue one where Spinner was. She'd been looking for Korkie for a while now and was starting to finally get tired. She was about to start for her quarters when quiet music reached her ears, it was that of a piano. She knew she should have just gone back to her quarters, but instead, she followed the music down the hallway to a large unfinished ballroom. Crates and paintings were covered with white tarps, in the middle was a piano, with a certain ginger she recognized at the bench. She didn't know that Korkie played the piano, she stilled in the doorway, listening to the quiet music. She finally decided to enter, since Korkie was too lost in his music. She sat down on the bench next to him, nudging his elbow, he glanced over at her,

"Oh, hi Esinon," he said returning to his music for only a moment before processing that she was actually there. "I- uh- when did you get here?"

"A few hours ago-" she decided to leave out the part where she had been hiding out in her ship for that time. He pulled her into a tight hug, so Satine had not told her nephew that she was going to be coming here. She sighed, tucking her head against his shoulder, she really needed a hug.

"Why are you here?" he asked, they still didn't let go of one another.

"I'm on leave for the next two months," she grimaced as he pulled away, his hand brushing against her wound. Fortunately, he didn't notice,

"Any specific reason?" he asked,

"One I'd rather not talk about," she said, the nightmares of Umbara were more and more vivid every night. One session of therapy and she wanted more, years of war she needed to unpack, but therapy wasn't exactly the Jedi way. You release the emotions into the force, except she had more emotions than the force wanted to take. She shook herself from her thoughts, running her fingers over the piano keys. "I didn't know you played piano," He blushed, rubbing the back of his neck,

"Uh, yeah, my aunt has had me in classes ever since I was little, and I never really stopped playing," he said,

"You sound amazing, keep going," she said, scooting over to give him more elbow room, he continued to play as Esinon closed her eyes feeling the force ripple with each note. Korkie watched her, he had this song memorized, he let his fingers move across the keys on instinct. Esinon yawned, she must be exhausted, she kept her eyes closed at peace with the force and the music… well until she fell asleep. Her head slumped against his shoulder, his fingers stilled on the keyboard for a moment. She stirred, so he continued to play, watching a small smile creep over her face. It was nice to have her here, he could find out the reason later.

**That night…**

Esinon sighed, letting her head flop down on the desk. The flimsi she had been working on fluttered, her quest to get Dogma, and now his cellmate as well out of prison was more difficult than she anticipated. The Kaminoans wanted money, they considered the clones their property, and if she wanted them, she had to buy them back. The very thought of it made her sick, but she would do what she had to do. Dogma hating her was better than him being dead, she couldn't stand to lose anymore. She pulled out her transmitter,

"This is day I don't know of trying to get Dogma and his cellmate CT- 0116 out of prison. I'm planning on paying the Kaminoans the amount of money they want, my dad is helping me. I'm planning to get them citizenship for them as well, but that's a long process too." she sucked in a harsh breath, she felt so guilty already. The clones didn't deserve to be treated as property. She would do this for Dogma, he could hate her forever but she couldn't stand the thought of him being dead either. "Hopefully I'll be verified soon, they have to screen Dogma and his cellmate, then they have to screen me. It's a long process, but it should be done in a couple of weeks. I might have to leave Mandalore early, but we'll explore the galaxy a little bit! I'll get them settled with jobs and living quarters, and… I'll be on my way. Back to… the war and stuff," she sighed, "I almost don't want to go back to the war now that I'm away. Maybe Mandalore did choose what's best, neutrality." she stared at the transmitter for a minute, before clicking it off.

She looked around at the room Satine had given her for her time on Mandalore, it was a simple room with windows of stained glass depicting a large forest of cherry trees in full bloom, and a soft bed in the middle of the room. To the left of her desk was a fish tank with brightly colored fish swimming around inside it, she ran a finger over the tank, a turquoise fish nuzzled against where her finger was.

She stretched for a moment before recoiling at the tinge of pain that reminded her she was still injured. Why didn't Master Allie just let her stay in the bacta tank?

"Who were you talking to?" Korkie asked, peeking into her room, she almost fell out of her seat in surprise, she cleared her throat uncomfortably at the sudden barge in.

"Uh- no one, it's something for war stuff." she quickly supplied, war stuff. How was she such an idiot? Why didn't she just tell him? How hard was it to say, 'it's a project I'm working on.' She came back to the present to find Korkie staring at her, and suddenly the room felt a lot hotter. "You can come in if you want," she finally offered, he walked in, grabbing the extra chair in the corner and sitting down next to her.

"I don't want to push, and if you really don't want to tell me, you don't have to… but why are you here on Mandalore, really?" She sighed, rubbing the bandages that were bulging underneath her tunic.

"I didn't want to worry you," she began,

"Well in that category you have failed spectacularly, my dear," he quipped, she gave a soft chuckle, he sounded like Obi-Wan.

"I did something stupid, really, stupid. Now the council's concerned-"

"It's about time." Korkie huffed, she sat up a little at her friend's sudden outburst. "You know, ever since…"

"You can say his name Korkie, it's alright," she said, gently placing her hand over his.

"Ever since Obi-Wan's death, I've been in the dark. All I've had is the holo-net, and it's story after story about you and Obi-Wan." He got up and started frustratedly pace the room, "After you stopped calling me for these past weeks, I was terrified you-" he stopped himself, his fists clenched, his eyes sorrowful and angry. She gently reached out and grabbed his hand.

"Korkie, I'm not going to die, ok? And I'm sorry I haven't been in contact with you," she said softly, standing up. She pulled him into a tight hug, they were quiet for a minute, he rested his head on top of hers.

"Can you stay on Mandalore forever? Where I know you're safe," he whispered, she took a deep breath, Korkie always panicked after she got injured. He hated it when she had to run off into battle.

"You know I can't stay, I have duties, and I can't abandon my men," she replied,

"Can't you just do something for yourself, for once? For once in your life, can you please just do something for yourself?" he asked, exasperated, she chuckled softly,

"You know that's not how I was raised,"

"I wish you weren't so selfless sometimes," he said, as they let go. She smiled softly,

"No you don't," she said, with a teasing smile. He dropped his head, grinning,

"No, no I don't," he said, the room went silent for a few moments, neither one of them moving. Esinon finally blinked a few times, stepping away from Korkie. He cleared his throat uncomfortably, his face bright red, "I'll let you get some rest." She nodded and he left the room, Esinon stood there for a minute before using the force to close the door. They were friends, nothing more. At least that's what she kept telling herself.

**The next morning…**

Esinon blinked a couple of times at the sunlight streaming through her window, she rolled over in the soft blankets. It felt nice to wake up to the sun for once and not the blaring alarms of the _Negotiator. _She'd struggled to sleep last night, it was too quiet, it was constantly noisy on Coruscant, or _the Negotiator, _or wherever she made camp during a mission, you'd think she'd be able to sleep anywhere by now, but the bed was too soft, and everything was so unbearable QUIET. Also, her thoughts were very, very, loud, and everyone else's thoughts were very, very loud. She'd spent most of her time putting up her mental shields since no one had any in this stickin' palace. She heard her comlink beep, she used the force to call it to her hand. She could practically hear Obi-Wan reprimanding her about how it was a frivolous use of the force, she smiled sadly to herself getting lost in memories for a minute when her comlink beeped again.

"Hello?" she asked groggily, shaking the sleep from her mind.

"Good, you're finally awake," Satine said, Esinon rubbed her eyes,

"What do you mean finally?" she asked,

"Ad'ika, it's past noon," she shot upright, she hadn't slept that late… well, ever. "I wanted to have a doctor check over your wound." Esinon flopped back into the bed,

"Master Allie showed me how to clean and dress it myself. Besides, this isn't my first time with a severe injury, I'm fine, I promise."

"It wasn't a request ad'ika. Get dressed, Korkie will help you find the medbay." Satine said, ending the transmission. Obi-Wan had always advised her against arguing with the Mandalorian Duchess, he was always a hypocrite in that light. She finally crawled out of bed, Master Allie had said to refrain from using her speed, so getting ready took longer than normal. She finally settled on a navy blue tunic and tan pants, very Mandalorian-esque, she didn't exactly want to notify the entire galaxy she was here. She exited her room to find Korkie leaning against the opposite wall with a very smug look on his face,

"Good morning, or should I say afternoon," he said,

"So are you my escort?" she yawned,

"I guess so, this palace is big enough to get lost in for days," he said, admiring the stained glass on the corridor they were walking through.

"Sounds like the temple," she said,

"So my Aunt is forcing a medical exam upon you?" he asked, she nodded,

"Wouldn't be my first, probably won't be my last," Korkie gave an irritated grumble, Esinon rubbed her arm uncomfortably. After their talk last night, she didn't know, it felt like more than friendship.

"Well, here we are," he said, Esinon sighed staring at the medbay. She could smell the anesthetics already,

"Thanks for walking me, I'll see you after," she said, entering the medbay.

**A few minutes later…**

"Korkie," Satine said, her nephew didn't answer, running his fingers through the grooves on the wooden table. "Korkie,"

"Hmm?" He finally looked up at her,

"Are you alright? You've been acting strange all morning," she said, flicking through a few reports on a datapad.

"Tired, I guess," he said, resuming his mission of tracing all the grooves on the table.

"Korkie, I know you well enough to know when something's bothering you," she said, ditching her work and sitting down next to him. "Spill," He sighed, running a hand tiredly through his hair.

"I dunno, a lot to think about with Esinon being here," he replied,

"Specifically?" Korkie's face flushed bright red,

"Her injury," he replied quickly, Satine cocked an eyebrow. Her injury, sure. She could see right through her love-sick nephew but was deciding to leave it alone for now.

"You hungry ad'ika?" Satine asked as Esinon made her way into the kitchen,

"The answer to that question will always be yes," Esinon joked, "Master Kenobi used to call me a bottomless pit. One of the cons of being a speedster I guess."

"How'd the med exam go?" Korkie asked, perking up now that Esinon was around. Satine smiled to herself as she began chopping fruit, they reminded her of her and Obi-Wan when they hadn't been arguing.

"I'm alright," she said, squeezing his shoulder, "Wound's healing up nicely."

"That's good to hear, it'll be good to let the wound heal up on its own instead of relying on bacta," he said, she giggled at how formal he was starting to sound, "What?"

"You sound like when I was your teacher," she sat down next to him, his face flushed,

"Sorry," he mumbled,

"It's alright," she replied, grinning at him. Satine passed her the bowl of fruit, it was good the Jedi had let Esinon take a break. She already looked brighter and healthier and she had only been on Mandalore a day.

**The next day…**

"You've been uncharacteristically quiet," Lagos said, Esinon glanced back at her. It was nice to get to visit two of her only girl friends, other than Barriss and Ahsoka, there weren't many female Jedi in the temple. She'd kept contact with Lagos and Soniee after her time overthrowing the government on Mandalore.

"Yeah, you're usually blabbering our ears off with your crazy adventures but you haven't said a word," Soniee added, Esinon sighed, tempted to pull her knees up to her chest but it would jostle her wound too much.

"Just thinking," she replied, Lagos turned her attention back to her nails,

"You do that all the time," she replied,

"Besides you're on leave, you don't need to be thinking so much," Soniee added, Esinon sighed,

"Do you teenagers always feel this many things all of the time?" she suddenly blurted, Lagos sat up with a big grin on her face.

"Boy trouble?" she asked, Esinon's face flushed,

"No- no. Of course not, I'm a Jedi," she replied,

"But that doesn't mean you can't feel those things too," Soniee added, "So as your girl best friends it is our solemn duty to play matchmaker."

"Or ease your mind," Lagos added, noticing that Esinon was getting flustered.

"All of these feelings are so new," she murmured,

"And completely natural," Soniee said, "So who exactly is making you so flustered,"

"Could it be," Lagos glanced at Soniee to make sure they were thinking of the same person,

"A certain ginger wonder!" They both squealed hugging Esinon tight, she grinned.

"This is perfect!" Lagos exclaimed,

"All he does is talk about you," Soniee said, the hopeless romantic in her taking over. "Just think, Esinon Windcaster, crowned Princess of Mandalore." She made a large gesture in the air with her hand.

"It can never happen, I'm a Jedi remember?" she asked,

"One can dream," Lagos sighed, Esinon glanced at her friend smiling.

"You two would be the cutest couple," Soniee declared,

"Well, that doesn't help me figure out any of my feelings." Esinon sighed, "Not that they matter anyway,"

"Well, it's a complicated thing liking a boy," Lagos said,

"I don't know why I'm entertaining this," Esinon muttered, giving into the talk. "But how do you know what you're feeling? It's all so… complicated."

"You just know, it's a feeling," Soniee said,

"I've got too many of those," she muttered,

"Well it gets sorted out, you know, you just spend a lot of time together and it makes itself right. You just have to be patient," Soniee explained,

"That's not helpful," Esinon grumbled, elbowing her friend playfully.

"Well, it's obvious Korkie feels the same way about you," Lagos said,

"It is?" Esinon asked, glanced up,

"Wow the Jedi really do teach nothing about this," Soniee murmured, shaking her head,

"Well, talk like this isn't exactly encouraged," she exclaimed, giggling,

"Oh hush," Lagos said, "All he talks about is you, you should have heard him going on and on about the miracle girl who rushed in to fight Death Watch assassins." Esinon's face went bright red, a similar tone to Xavier's skin.

"If only, because he won't marry anyone else." Soniee said, "And believe me I've tried," Esinon almost choked,

"Marry?"

"Yes my innocent girl," Lagos said, throwing an arm around her. "That's what happens after you date someone."

"But I'm not dating someone- I'll never date anyone. Still a Jedi, always a Jedi." Esinon said quickly,

"We'll see about that," Soniee said slyly, Esinon rolled her eyes good-naturedly. None of her feelings made any sense, but maybe she'd figure it out. She just had to be patient, right? No. Nope. it was better not to think about it if she really did feel that way about Korkie it would be better not to think about it. Jedi didn't entertain such ideas. She was serious about being a Jedi if Korkie really did love her. He could survive heartbreak, there were a thousand girls who wanted to marry him. He'd find someone else because it was NOT going to be her.

**A few days later…**

Esinon stretched her tired limbs as she sat in front of the fireplace, her whole body ached for sleep, but her mind had other ideas. Such as plaguing her with nightmares where Rex and Fives died at the hands of Krell, and he proceeded to chase her. That nightmare was promptly followed by another of Obi-Wan, she could see him running in front of her but every time she got close a shot would ring and she would be too late.

"It's a little late for you to be awake ad'ika," Satine remarked, her bare feet padding against the tile as she approached the fireplace. Esinon tugged the blankets around her shoulders tighter,

"I could say the same for you," Satine chuckled, coming around the couch and sitting on the navy blue rug beside her.

"Fair enough, are you simply awake because you wish to enjoy a brisk Sundari night, or is something else keeping you awake."

"The abilities that come with being a Jedi are both a blessing and a curse," she mumbled, tucking her knees to her chest.

"Obi-Wan used to complain about the vivid nightmares," Satine replied, smiling softly at the memories that flooded her mind.

"Glad I'm not the only one," she mumbled, Satine glanced over at the teenager, she could see her eyes welling with tears.

"I have a lot of wonderful memories of Obi-Wan, my favorite memory was when Master Qui-Gon left us alone for the first time. We were in a cave and we were both settling in for the night when we realized we had stumbled upon a venomite infested cave." Satine chuckled to herself, "Obi-Wan 'heroically' carried me to safety and proceeded to trip over a rock. I still have the scar." Esinon smiled,

"Obi-Wan never really liked to talk about his time with his old Master, but when he did, it was fondly."

"Do you have any favorite memories of Obi-Wan?" she asked gently, she didn't want to probe her too far. Esinon nodded slowly,

"Contrary to popular belief, the battle of Christophsis was not the first time I met Obi-Wan Kenobi." she began, "When I was little I played, what I thought was a fun game, where I would run away from Master Fisto and Nadar and have half the temple searching for me in a mass game of hide and seek. I was seven, maybe eight, and decided to go hide in the library in my favorite corner. In hindsight, it probably wasn't the best hiding spot since Nadar knew about it and it was usually one of the first places he checked but that's not important. Anyways, I ran into the library and found someone already occupying my favorite spot, Obi-Wan. He knew about the temple searching for me, but didn't tell me that. He sat and read to me until Nadar showed up and promised to keep reading to me when he could if I promised to stop running away." she said, "He kept reading to me right up to the day he died," she whimpered, the tears starting to spill freely down her face. Satine pulled Esinon in a tight hug, careful not to jostle her injury. She could feel tears trickling down her own face, she didn't like to think about losing Obi-Wan, but talking about all the wonderful memories he had graced the galaxy with made her heartache. But it was the good kind of ache, the kind that made her know that her heart had been loved.

**A few days later…**

Esinon had been on Mandalore for almost a week now and life was good, she was off crutches for now, but there was a problem with her wound. It kept reopening and leaking so they had to start using bacta, but it didn't hurt that bad, she was gonna be fine. She shifted around the inside of her ship, searching for a few tools she could use to fix Satine's transport. She'd offered to do it because she was bored, she wasn't used to all the quiet. Spinner came around the corner holding out the socket plug she had been looking for,

"Thanks, buddy," she said, adding it to the crate, she felt the ship jerk. She grabbed Spinner's head, steadying herself, the ship jolted into the air. "Spinner what was that?"

_'I don't know, but it wasn't me.'_

"Well, I didn't do that either,"

_'Which means,'_

"Someone else is on the ship," Esinon whispered, calling her saber into her hand. She crept from the quarters of her ship towards the hull, stalking silently forward. A figure was sitting in the pilot's chair as they pulled out of the Mandalorian atmosphere. A few click clacks and a slide of a lever later, they were already in hyperspace. She grabbed the back of the chair whipping it around and placing the end of her saber to their neck. A pair of terrified blue eyes stared back at her, "Korkie?"

"Esinon, can you…" she deactivated her lightsaber, replacing it on her belt.

"Korkie, where are we going?" she asked, as he turned around continuing to pilot the ship.

"What are you doing here?" he asked,

"It's my ship, what are you doing here?" she asked defensively, glaring at Korkie.

"I… I can't tell you. I have a plan, don't worry," he said,

"No, we're going back to Mandalore. Whatever 'plan' you have, my ship is not gonna be a part of it." Esinon said, edging Korkie out of the pilot's seat and taking control.

* * *

Korkie didn't want to do this, he didn't want to hurt Esinon, but he needed to get to Carlac as soon as possible. He needed to get there before Pre Vizsla returned to camp, he needed to get his Aunt Bo alone to convince her to be an informant for Death Watch's movements. It was too late now,

"Esinon, I'm sorry," he said, she turned her head,

"Sorry for-" he grabbed the shock box, shoving it into her arm. She clenched up for a second before collapsing into his arms. He cradled her head,

"I'm sorry Esinon, hopefully, you can forgive me one day," he whispered, he picked her up, setting her into the chair next to the pilot's. Hopefully, she would stay unconscious for long enough for him to do what he needed to do. He didn't want her to get hurt. Spinner came rolling into the room, staring at Esinon worriedly, he beeped at him a couple of times. "Esinon's pretty tired, she should probably sleep it off." Korkie glanced down at her lightsaber still laying at her side, "Spinner could you go grab a blanket for her?" He beeped and left to go grab her a blanket, Korkie grabbed her lightsaber and hid it in the ship, he hoped that if he hid her lightsaber she would stay on the ship and leave him alone to do this. She wasn't meant to be here, why didn't he check the ship before he left? He climbed into the pilot's seat as Spinner returned with a blanket and tossed it over her,

* * *

Sunlight streamed in through the window of the ship, Esinon blinked her eyes a couple of times, placing a hand to her throbbing head.

"Korkie?" she asked hoarsely, finally opening her eyes fully, looking for the Mandalorian prince. "Korkie?" He was gone, she looked down in her lap to see her lightsaber missing, "Where is my lightsaber?" She stood up finally looking out the window to see a snow-covered planet with cherry trees in full bloom. It was gorgeous, her breath caught in her throat when she finally looked past the beauty of the planet she saw a dark-skinned man with ebony hair. He turned to look at her, crystal blue eyes piercing her brown ones. "Korkie," she growled, "Spinner, take a look around and see if you can find my lightsaber. I'm gonna go have a little chat with Prince Klaudius."

'Got it,' Spinner replied, rolling off. Esinon was never more thankful she was not in her Jedi robes, she ran to the closet grabbing a winter coat, which was thankfully not Jedi issued. She tugged it over her arms and ran outside,

"Korkie! Korkie, where are we?" she growled, tugging her hat down further, covering up her markings, it was certainly cold on this planet. "And what did you do with my lightsaber?" He turned around, his nose was significantly wider and larger lips. If she wasn't a Jedi, she couldn't tell who he was. How he had done that, she didn't know.

"You should have stayed on the ship," he said, the whistle of a jetpack sounded, as a Mandalorian came down from the sky she shoved Korkie behind her, and soon they were surrounded by-

"Death Watch," she growled,

"Hey kid, you're late," a female voice said, Esinon turned around to see a female Mandalorian standing there. She kept her body in a defensive stance, ready to speed Korkie back on the ship at any second… the problem was she could feel warm blood starting to stick to her ribs. Her wound was leaking, slowly, but that wasn't good. "You get us what we need?" The Mando asked approaching them,

"Yes, and I have the information with me," Korkie replied, what information was he talking about? What was he doing here?

"Who's this?" she asked, motioning to Esinon. Her stomach dropped, need an alias, need an alias, need an alias.

"I'm his…" she paused, "I'm his…" she glanced at Korkie, she slid close to him intertwining their fingers. "I'm his betrothed," She shook Korkie's arm trying to get him to play along, he nodded slowly, getting the idea.

"Uh- right. Right," he said firmly, the female cocked her head,

"Betrothed?" she stepped forward, grabbing Esinon's chin and forcing her to look upward. She wrenched her face away and was thankful her markings were covered up so they wouldn't recognize her. The Mando circled Esinon for a moment, "little skinny, isn't she?" The Mando shoved her forward, she gasped, nearly losing her footing. She whipped around ready to deck the Mando, Korkie jumped between them.

"She serves her purpose," he said quickly, Esinon could see Spinner rolling out from the ship towards her, holding out her lightsaber. She discreetly shook her head, Spinner flashed an 'ok', putting her saber away. All the Mandalorians turned at the arrival of the blue and yellow astromech.

"We leave now. The snow is coming." the female Mando said, walking towards the speeder. As Korkie headed to follow her, Esinon grabbed his arm.

"What have you gotten us into now?"

"It's all under control," he replied,

"These are the Death Watch," she hissed, "You know, the Mandalorian terrorists that are trying to kill your aunt. They'll kill us both."

"I'll explain everything as soon as we're alone,"

"You coming?" a Mando asked,

"Yes," Korkie said, walking quickly towards the speeder leaving Esinon behind.

"I should stay with the ship," Esinon said, turning and walking towards the ship. A Mando grabbed her shoulder,

"Oh no, you're coming too." A pair of Mandos grabbed Spinner loading him into the speeder, she took a deep breath climbing onto a speeder next to the one Korkie was in. She glared at him before turning her head the other way. A few minutes later they arrived at a camp, filled with ships, tents, and lots of Mandalorians. Her stomach clenched up, her last fight with Pre Vizsla coming to the forefront of her mind. If he had almost killed her then, he certainly would now that she was injured. As they pulled into the camp, the sound of gunfire rang as they passed a pair of Mandalorians who were firing at a pair of commando droids, well they weren't commandos exactly… they had all kinds of other droid parts.

"Dance droids, dance!" The Mandos cackled, taking out the droids. Those droids didn't deserve it. The speeder slowed to a halt, Esinon climbed off, still glaring at Korkie. Spinner warbled anxiously as another droid fell underneath fire, Esinon and Korkie walked towards a tent where the female Mando was waiting.

"The boss isn't here right now, but he'll see you in here when he comes back. I'll be back in a few minutes to get the information." Esinon shoved down a sigh of relief, Vizsla wasn't here, there was still time to get out. They both nodded, entering the tent. As soon as she had assured that all of the Mandos were out of earshot, she was about to speak when Korkie spoke up.

"Don't ruin my plan, ok?" he said,

"Plan? What plan? So far all I've seen is you stealing my ship and bringing us to terrorists who'll kill us both. Or worse, they'll use you as a hostage and try to get your aunt to come here." she hissed, Korkie whipped around,

"I have a plan ok, that woman, outside, she's my aunt. Bo-Katan Kryze. She defected to Death Watch, I don't know why, but I know if I get her alone I can get her to be an informant for Auntie Satine and tear Death Watch apart from the inside." He gripped her shoulders tightly, "Is that plan enough for you?" Esinon pushed his hands away,

"Your aunt defected to Death Watch for a reason, and I'm very sorry she did. But this isn't safe Korkie, as soon as Vizsla comes back, it's over. He'll kill us both."

"I knew you wouldn't understand," he mumbled, shaking his head,

"Korkie, we cannot stay here. I know you want to help the Duchess, but this isn't the way to do it." she pleaded, she placed a hand on his shoulder, "Please, you don't know what you're doing," He looked over her shoulder, eyes widening in fear, "it's not too late-" He grabbed her suddenly, smashing his lips to hers. Her first reaction was to scream, but he held her firmly in place, locking their lips together and preventing her from moving. Korkie dipped her in such a way that she could see the Death Watch soldiers,

"Am I... interrupting something?" Bo asked, staring at the two intertwined teenagers. This distracted Korkie long enough for her to shove him off of her, she backed away as far as possible,

"N-no, of course not. We were just um…" Korkie paused, Esinon glanced at him with a questioning look. He looked to her for help, but she couldn't think of anything.

"It's time to talk business," she said, stepping fully into the tent, she pulled off her helmet revealing the classic Kryze features except with bright red hair, several shades darker than Korkie's. "Tell your woman to leave us." Esinon scowled at her,

"Of- course," Korkie replied, she stared at him in shock, no, no, no, she couldn't leave him alone with Death Watch. They'd find out who he really was, they would kill him! She was finally torn back to reality as she was wrenched roughly out of the tent by a Mandalorian soldier. She looked pleadingly at Korkie for him to speak up and let her stay, but he never did.

* * *

"Now, give me what the boss wants," Bo growled, circling around him, sitting down on a crate.

"When I know you will use it correctly," Korkie said, sitting down and crossing his arms.

"Don't toy with me, kid." she snapped, "The boss will take you and your woman out if you don't give the info. Now." Korkie's thoughts flashed to Esinon, 'Just hand over the info.' He pulled out a data-card, with false information about the Duchess and her guards' movements.

"This device holds the Duchess and her guard's movements. It'll make her easier to target." he said, handing the device over to his aunt.

"Good, that was painless enough, wasn't it?" she joked, clapping his roughly on the back,_ 'geeze she's strong._' She pushed him towards the entrance of the tent, "Now let's celebrate!"

* * *

The Mandalorian who had tugged her from the tent shoved her roughly to the ground in another tent. Her side was aching, she pushed herself to her feet ready to charge the Mando,

"Try that again, and I will-" she snarled, someone grabbed her hand.

"Shh, don't make them angry." A woman who looked like Master Tu-Anh. "They are far from rational." Esinon chuckled, placing a comforting hand on the sorrowful woman's shoulder.

"Believe me, you have no idea." Esinon looked around to see a room full of women with the same facial tattoos. She sat down on a crate next to the woman who had grabbed her arm. "What's your name?"

"Tryla," she replied softly,

"I'm Esinon," she said, "Where are you from?"

"We were kidnapped from a nearby town. We are a simple people. We trust easily and we were betrayed." Esinon stared at her feet for a minute, thinking about if there was a way she could get Tryla out of here when she was torn from her thoughts by a Mandalorian bursting into the tent.

"We feast! Prepare the food!" he yelled, "Your Masters are hungry," Esinon scowled at him until he left before sharing a look with Tryla.

**One hour later…**

Esinon shifted around the room holding bowls of soup to the hoards of Death Watch soldiers. She kept her head down, hoping no one would recognize her. She spotted Korkie sitting next to Bo Katan, she walked over to him holding out a tray of soup.

"Hungry?" she asked, her voice laced with sarcastic sweetness, he took a bowl, shooting her an 'I'm sorry' look. "Careful not to choke on your stupidity." she said through clenched teeth, she turned on her heel and strutted away. Korkie whispered something to Bo before following Esinon, he grabbed her hand. She quickly ripped it away, "What?"

"Can I talk to you, please?" he whispered, Esinon rolled her eyes, tucking her now empty tray under her arm.

"Fine," she grumbled following him outside the tent.

"Esinon, please, I've gotten a lot of time to talk to my aunt and she's turning."

"You told her who you are?" she gasped, her eyes wide with terror. Korkie grabbed her shoulders trying to pull her back from her anxious tornado.

"No. As far as she knows Alexsander Teris. A Mandalorian sympathizer from Dantooine." he replied,

"At least you were smart enough to think of alias," she grumbled,

"Of course I thought of an alias, I'm not stupid." he retorted,

"Well, you were stupid enough to bring us here."

"You weren't supposed to be here!" he whispered shouted,

"You stole my ship! What did you expect?"

"Please Esinon, you can't ruin this for me. I'm so close." he pleaded, Esinon was about to respond when the whistle of jetpacks sounded in her ears, she could sense Vizsla coming.

"Get behind me,"

"Esin-"

"Korkie. Get. Behind. Me." she growled, Vizsla and two of his men landed in front of her and Korkie. Esinon could feel her adrenaline pumping through her veins, Vizsla stared at her for a moment.

"You," he growled, "Capture her!" The two men lunged for her, she threw a kick to the first one's chest, simultaneously throwing the tray into the other's head. The first one she had kicked, lunged for her again, tackling her to the ground. She wrestled with him for a moment, he managed to rip off her coat, leaving her bare skin vulnerable to the cold. She flipped behind Vizsla and kicked him in the back, sending him stumbling forward. He grabbed Korkie, placing his Vibro-blade to his neck, "Surrender yourself, Jedi. Or he dies." Vizsla growled, Korkie shook his head, but she could see the fear in his eyes. Esinon held up her hands in surrender, the two soldiers fired their cables wrenching her arms downward.

They quickly ran over and tied her hands behind her back, Vizsla wrenched Korkie's arms behind his back and dragged him into the tent. Esinon was in the middle of the Mandalorians on her knees, she refused to look at him as Vizsla shoved Korkie into the arms of a few soldiers. Even after the brief fight, bruises were starting to form on her skin, as four Mandalorian held cables that were restraining her. She didn't say anything, she simply glared up at Vizsla.

"This does not look good. This does not look good at all." Vizsla said, speaking to the still disguised Korkie. "I asked you to join us in good faith, and you brought a Jedi into our camp."

"She wasn't meant to be here. Please, let her go." Korkie pleaded, Vizsla shook his head, grabbing the darksaber from his pack.

"I'm afraid that's not an option." he said, studying the hilt. "She is a Jedi and she will pay in part for their crimes against Mandalore." He ignited the darksaber, "So you see it's not murder at all," Esinon closed her eyes as he raised the darksaber over his head, she accepted her fate. "It's justice!" He shouted, "Say hello to General Kenobi for me." She heard an electronic chirp and a soldier stumbled, Spinner was here! He went into attack mode, all of the probes flying out of his body and he spun around spitting smoke out everywhere.

"Esinon! Now!" Korkie shouted, shoving Vizsla away from her. Spinner came towards her, handing her her lightsaber.

"Thanks buddy," she said, as Spinner beeped for her to get going. She cut herself free, spinning into action, slashing the chests of the four guards who had been restraining her. She held up her saber in a defensive stance, taking on the classic Kenobi ready position. A few guards stepped forward aiming blasters at her,

"Stop," Vizsla held out his hand, still wielding the darksaber. "The Jedi is mine." She spun her saber a couple times,

"Alexsander, get to the ship." she nodded her head towards the door, she looked back to Vizsla, "You want to fight a Jedi? Well you asked for it buddy," Vizsla crept forward slowly at first, before attacking her with a hard slam of his saber which she anticipated and gracefully blocked. She slashed towards him, one, two, attack and deflect. He slammed his saber down again, she tried to land a kick at his head but he kicked and swiped towards her face. She ducked, the saber almost taking off her nose, she jumped as he tried to take a shot at her legs. He slashed down again and she flipped out of the way and ran up a table. He slammed his saber down again, cutting the table as she jumped off; she didn't need to beat Vizsla, she just needed to hold him off long enough for Korkie to get to the ship. She slowed for just a second, her side aching, she could feel warm blood starting to soak through her bandages. No, no, no, no, not now.

Her brief pause was enough for Vizsla to slash down again, she barely managed to block his saber but she wasn't able to block the kick he landed right to her wound. She crumpled to her knees, hacking up mouthfuls of blood all over the ground and Vizsla's boots.

"You're injured? That's hardly a fair fight," Vizsla cackled, Esinon gritted her teeth, feeling warm blood soak out all over her tunic and fingers.

"Glad you know you're gonna lose!" she growled, swiping her leg underneath his feet, sending him to the ground. She quickly got to her feet, calling her saber and sprinted out of the tent. She was met with the modified droids from earlier, there was even a massive load-lifter.

"I guess Spinner made some friends," Korkie said, motioning to the droids. She grinned, igniting her saber as Vizsla and a group of about five guards came running out of the tent. The droids began firing upon their cruel Masters, blue fire intermixed with the yellow as an explosion went off in front of the Mando tent, she spotted Vizsla getting distracted by the chaos. She leapt into the air, spinning as she brought her blade down on his, he blocked it and shoved her back. He whipped his arm around firing blasts in pairs, she dodged most of them and deflected a few as she stumbled backwards. They went into a quick series of block and attacks, neither of them gaining the high ground until Esinon got an opening and flipped over him, slashing his jetpack midair. The machine crackled with electricity, beginning a countdown to explode.

"Not bad Jedi," he sneered,

"I didn't miss." she growled, Vizsla realized what she meant as she sprinted away. He threw the pack away from him in just the nick of time. Unfortunately, they were both still in the blast zone, Esinon was thrown to the ground, more of her blood staining the snow. She took a second to gather herself and concentrate on keeping her blood inside her body where it belongs.

"Esinon!" Korkie shouted, she scrambled to her feet and flipped onto the speeder Korkie and Spinner were riding in. She held on tightly to the speeder as they raced through the snow, the only warmth she could feel at this point was the blood sticking to her stomach. BOOM! A blast went off, narrowly missing the speeder, Esinon was thrown onto one of the turbines of the speeder, looking up she could see three Mando soldiers flying above them. She quickly got to her feet, deflecting blasts from Korkie, she hit one of the ones on the side, sending him spiraling into the second one. They both crashed, leaving only one left. The third flew down at incredible speeds, tackling Esinon and pinning her to the speeder, both hands around her throat. She grappled at the hands, desperate for air, Spinner fired a splurt of oil into the Mandalorian's visor, he relinquished for a moment trying to wipe the goop off his visor. It gave her enough time to use the force to shove him off of her, she rubbed her neck laying against the cold surface of the speeder. She placed her other hand over her side wound,

"That's two I owe you," she said, focusing on the force to shove the blood back in her body.

_'You owe me way more than two.'_ Spinner retorted, she chuckled softly,

"That's true," she mumbled, black spots starting to swim in her eyes as the forest fire of pain spread through her body. She could see the ship in view, as the speeder slowed to a stop, she attempted to get up and walk to the ship but she didn't make it very far. She crumpled down into the snow a few feet from the catwalk,

"Esinon!" Korkie exclaimed, running over the Jedi who was struggling to push herself back up. "What's wrong?" She grimaced,

"My wound opened back up," Her face was sickly pale, almost gray, but her tunic was an angry red, and so was the snow. He picked her up,

"Don't worry, I'll get you back to Mandalore. Spinner start the ship." he said, she couldn't hide the hiss of pain as her side and legs were jostled as Korkie picked her up. "Just keep talking, don't go to sleep." Esinon nodded, tucking her head against his chest as she shivered, it might have been the blood loss or the hypothermia that was probably setting in but she started talking about Umbara.

"I blamed myself for everything that happened on Umbara. No matter how many times Rex, or Fives, or Cody told me it wasn't my fault, that I couldn't do anything more… I still think it's my fault everything on Umbara happened the way it did." she mumbled, Korkie set her down on her bed in her quarters,

"Spinner! Take off!" he shouted, he felt the ship jolt, he looked over to Esinon who was still awake but struggling to do so. "Keep talking, do you have any medical supplies?"

"Top drawer on left," she mumbled, Korkie quickly retrieved the first aid kit. "Korkie,"

"Yeah?" he asked, as he pulled up her tunic and got rid of the old soaked bandages.

"Why did you kiss me?" she asked, Korkie froze, but quickly recovered as Esinon's body was still spilling blood all over both of them.

"You know why I did that, to get you to be quiet so we wouldn't get captured."

"Yeah I know about that part, but there was more to it." she mumbled, wincing as he started to clean the wound. Korkie paused, there was more to it for him… but did she share his feelings? He decided to turn the attention away from himself,

"Was that your first kiss?" he asked, beginning to slather bacta over the wound. She chuckled softly,

"That bad, huh?"

"No, it was quite a nice kiss actually. Considering the circumstances." she smiled softly, rubbing a thumb over her forehead, smearing blood.

"You didn't do so bad yourself," she teased, nudging his hand slightly.

"Esinon, I-" he cut himself off, romantic confessions of feelings would have to wait because he heard the warning tone that they were coming out of hyperspace. "Don't worry, we're back and we'll get you the proper help you need." he said, clasping her clammy hand tightly. She nodded tiredly, tempted to close her eyes but she had to stay awake. If she fell asleep now, she might not wake up again. "Can I trust you to stay awake, while I land the ship?"

"Spinner can do it," she said, holding onto his hand tighter, her eyes pleading for him to stay. Korkie understood,

"Ok," he sat back down next to her, Esinon's hand relaxing in his.

**A few minutes later…**

The doctors had whisked Esinon away on a stretcher, and the way she had held out her hand towards him, silently begging him to be with her. The fear in her eyes as they had been dragged apart would stay with him, for a very long time. When Aunt Satine came and yelled at him about all he had done, he didn't remember any of it. All he remembered was whimpering, 'It's all my fault,' before breaking down in her arms.

* * *

When Esinon woke back up, she didn't expect to wake up in the palace on Sundari. She expected to wake up to a worried Cody and a frustrated Drummer, not Korkie slumped up against her bed asleep, clasping her hand gently. She blinked her eyes a couple of times looking around the room,

"Korkie?" she whispered, her voice hoarse and scratchy. He mumbled something in his sleep, squeezing her hand a little tighter. He finally woke up, blinking his eyes a couple times,

"Esinon? Esinon, you're awake!" he sat up, "How do you feel? Do you need me to get a doctor?" He asked rising up out of his seat.

"Korkie, Korkie, calm down, I'm alright," she said, gently pushing him back down into his seat. He took a deep breath,

"Sorry… I was worried," he mumbled,

"It's alright, not the first time I've had someone freaking out when I've woken up from injury." she joked, "I've got a lot of older brothers."

"Yeah, they'd probably want to kill me right now," he grumbled,

"No, I shouldn't have let Vizsla kick me, I'm better than that."

"Can you let someone else take the blame for once, instead of putting the weight of the galaxy on your shoulders?" he asked, Esinon sighed,

"Well it shouldn't go on your shoulders either, this is my burden, not yours."

"It's not a burden if we shoulder it together," he said softly, a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. The room fell silent for a moment other than the beeping of her heart monitor. She finally spoke up, there was something she needed to know.

"Korkie… I have a question… and if you don't want to answer it, you don't have to," he nodded as she tried to think of how she wanted to phrase this. "But ever since I've been here, everything between us has felt… like more than friendship. And I may be reading all of this wrong, and I'll look like a big di'kut after this but, do you have feelings for me? More than friendship." Korkie sighed, running a hand over his face. He wasn't going to lie to her, she deserved better than that.

"When I was ten, maybe eleven, I met Lagos for the first time and I thought she was beautiful. I never voiced my affections to her, but that was a crush. Compared to what you and I have, even as friends, it's always been far greater. Ever since that day on Mandalore when I met you, I thought you were the bravest girl I'd ever met. You chased a guy who was shooting at you to protect people you didn't even know. You're selfless, kind, brave, smart, compassionate, funny, and beautiful. You've believed in me when I didn't, when no one else believed in me, you did. You thought I could rule an entire system when I was sixteen, your calm and level head has always been a constant for me. I… I don't think I always knew that I loved you, but… as the Jedi would say, the force guides people together. I think there's a reason that you happened to walk by the tree I was underneath all those years ago on Mandalore. I know that this," he motioned between them, "could never happen because you're a Jedi. I would never ask you to choose between me and the order, but I guess I'm asking you to be open to it? The idea that you could have a life outside of order, that you would have someone waiting here for you."

"Korkie… I- the order is my life,"

"I know, and I would never, ever, ask you to pick… I just want you to be open to it, please?" she sighed, focusing her gaze on her hands in her lap.

"When we first started to contact each other, I loved talking to you. It was so nice to have a friend who wasn't a Jedi, or a clone. I was always in a better mood after I talked to you. And if the question that's hanging in the air is, if I could ever feel the same way about you. I think the answer is... I always have. I just didn't like to think about it, because of the Jedi thing and stuff." She finally looked over at Korkie, both of their faces flushed. Her face deepened a shade when he pressed a gentle kiss to her knuckles.

"I've always wanted to do that," he whispered shyly, "I think it might be time for me to give you a proper kiss, if you want, of course." He wasn't going to rush her into anything she wasn't ready for, she had confessed feelings for him, and that was a step. She didn't say anything, she just kind of nodded, gripping his hand tightly. He leaned in and she did the same, he didn't rush her. The kiss was gentle and careful, he didn't want to hurt her, she was nervous and tentative at first, she'd never done this before. She'd expected it to feel all wrong, but it felt right, every kind of warmth flooded her body, she could feel her heart hammering in her chest, but she could feel Korkie's heart thumping just as quickly as hers. They parted, warm breath fluttering over each others' faces.

"Whoa," she breathed, they both stared into each others' eyes, this time Esinon initiated the kiss. Whatever the council said about attachment, she didn't understand at that moment, because how could this lead to the Darkside? How could all of this warmth and light lead to such hatred and anger? At the moment she wasn't worried about the code, or the Jedi, the war, or what anyone would think of the scandal of a Jedi and Mandalorian prince, the peoples who had warred for years. At the moment she was worried about being in the moment, and it was a wonderful moment.

**The next day…**

"Esinon, Esinon are you in here?" Korkie asked, peeking around the corner of a bookshelf. Sure enough, she was sitting on the balcony's edge, for a moment he was worried she would fall, but then remembered she could jump this height without breaking a sweat.

"Hi Korkie," she mumbled, one knee tucked up to her chest, her chin resting on her knee. He knew that look, she was thinking, anxiously thinking.

"Are you ok?" he asked slowly, leaning upon the balcony.

"I'm just thinking," A lot had happened in a short amount of time, of course, she was thinking.

"About what?" she sighed, her body curling in further on herself.

"I… I love you. I love you so much, but I'm really scared Korkie. I- if the council finds out, I'll be exiled and I don't know where I'll go!" her eyes welled with tears as she spiraled further down into her anxious whirlpool.

"You'll always have somewhere to stay here,"

"But what about everything with Mandalore, they won't like an ex-Jedi here. And besides, there's a reason that Jedi aren't supposed to have attachments. I could fall to the Darkside and hurt you or anyone I care about!"

"Esinon, Esinon, slow down," he said, tentatively reaching a hand for her shoulder, he didn't want her to feel suffocated. When she didn't move to stop him, he finished the gesture, "I'm not going to push you into anything that you're not ready for, but I am willing to wait. And I will wait as long as it takes,"

"I… I am ready, I'm just scared," she whimpered, a few tears rolling down her cheeks. Carefully he brought her into a hug, a strangled sob escaped her lips. "I-I'm sorry,"

"You don't have anything to be sorry for. If it makes you feel better, this is scary for me too," he said, she nodded into his chest.

"I feel I made the right decision, every time I try to think about leaving you, the force keeps nudging me back." She'd been meditating a lot to process everything, Korkie chuckled,

"Well then if the force is on our side, then it must be meant to be," he said,

"I love you," she whispered,

"I love you too," he replied, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

**A few days later…**

Esinon didn't really know what started the argument, but it was to be expected, right? They had just made a decision that would drastically shift their lives, so arguments were to be expected, right? But it was still hard, she and Korkie had never argued this much.

"This relationship isn't about only you!" Korkie shouted,

"Well, I'm the one who's risking my entire future as a Jedi to be with you!" She fired back,

"You're the only one risking something? That's rich," he scoffed, "In case you haven't noticed, I'm the heir to the Mandalorian throne, and dating a Jedi doesn't exactly look great!"

"Well, there are thousands of girls on this planet who are all swooning so why don't you go date one of them instead! They won't jeopardize your precious throne!" Esinon snapped,

"I don't want to date any of them! I want to be with you! Why don't you think I've had a girlfriend ever since I've known you?"

"I don't know! I know nothing about dating people, or being in love, so I don't know. I thought you were too young or something." her voice tapered off,

"Trust me, there were plenty of girls who wanted to be with me, but I've only had eyes for you," he said, stepping towards her,

"I... " she ran her hands down her face, "I'm sorry, I- this all is really new, and I don't know what I'm doing. The Jedi don't exactly encourage any of this." she said, "What would Obi-Wan think?" she whispered, Korkie drew nearer, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"I think that Obi-Wan was a hypocrite in the light of no attachments, you can ask my Aunt." She chuckled, head dropping to his shoulder as he fully brought her into his embrace.

"Yeah, he must have been stupid to think I didn't know," she replied,

"It'll be ok, no one is going to find out, we'll be careful," he assured her,

"We just act like friends in public…" Esinon stomach flipped, "We're lying for a good reason."

"Let's not call it lying," Korkie mumbled, "We're protecting ourselves." She sighed,

"Protecting ourselves,"

"We'll be careful,"

"And vigilant," she replied, determination setting into her heart.

"Let's not run our relationship like a battlefield."

"Ok."

* * *

**Sooooooooooo, for some of yall, your ship became canon *sly grin***

**Translations: ad'ika means little one **

**Any ideas who Dogma's cellmate is? His identity is hidden in his designation number **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: Esinon and Korkie's relationship in a nutshell: They're playing laser tag, Esinon pushed Korkie into a corner, kisses him and then shoots him before walking away, leaving her poor boyfriend very flustered**

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review!**


	38. Guilt and Secrets pt 1

**Um in case yall haven't heard, THE BAD BATCH ARE GETTING THEIR OWN SERIES**

* * *

**A few days later…**

A full two weeks on Mandalore. Esinon couldn't believe that as much that had happened, had all happened in two weeks. She'd come to Mandalore, gotten dragged to Carlac, had her first kiss, fought Pre-Vizsla while injured, had gotten injured again, confessed her love for Korkie, argued more than she ever had with Korkie, all while getting verified to have custody of Dogma and his cellmate, CT-0116. She wished Kaminoans would just tell her his name. She rifled through a pile of clothes on the floor, her comlink buzzed,

"Windcaster," she answered, rifling through a pile of clothes.

"General Windcaster, this is Lama Su," the soft-spoken Kaminoan replied, she immediately shot up from what she was doing and scrambled to the comlink.

"Yes, am I verified yet?" she asked anxiously,

"Yes you are verified, you can come collect the prisoners now," he said, Esinon kept all of her cheering on the inside and the General part of her mind took over.

"Thank you, I'll be there in two days to pick them up," she replied, she would need a day to pack and say goodbye and a day to fly there.

"We'll be anxiously awaiting your arrival," he replied, ending the transmission,

"Hang on Dogma, I'm coming for you," she then proceeded to call Rex. "Rex! I have good news! Where's Tup?"

"Slow down kid, I'll go get him," Rex said, still looking exhausted, but he wasn't being reconditioned or locked up and she was so grateful for that. Soon Rex returned with Tup, "Alright, what's the big news?"

"I have been verified and I can go pick up Dogma!" both troopers faces lit up,

"Really?" Tup asked,

"Yes, after a whole lot of paperwork and psych evals, I've been cleared to have custody of Dogma," she said, proudly,

"Wow," Tup muttered, a huge disbelieving smile on his face, as he ran a hand through his unruly hair. "That's- that's incredible! Thank you General,"

"Of course Tup, and you can just call me Esinon. We're off duty for the time being anyway." she said,

"How soon are you going to Kamino?" Rex asked,

"I'm leaving tomorrow morning, I've gotta wrap up some stuff here on Mandalore and then I'll be headed out."

"On your leave? Doesn't that count as work?" Rex asked,

"Will you calm down ner'vod? It technically counts, but we're gonna explore some different spots to see where they want to live. I'll get them settled with jobs and then be on my way." she replied,

"Can I see him… when you arrive?" Tup asked tentatively,

"Of course Tup, I'll call you as soon as we get into hyperspace." she said, with a soft smile. "Now I've got to pack, but I'll contact you guys when I leave Mandalore."

"Thank you Gen- Esinon, you don't know what this means to me," Tup said,

"Of course Tup you're my brother, I would do anything for you guys."

* * *

"I'm really sorry I have to leave early, but my time here was wonderful," Esinon said, Satine smiled,

"You're like Obi-Wan, he never stays in one place for very long. A new adventure awaits you my dear." Satine said, embracing her. Esinon smiled,

"Thank you for everything Satine,"

"Of course Esinon, never hesitate to contact me if you need anything." she replied, Satine glanced from Korkie to Esinon.  
"I'll give you two a minute alone," she nodded to the guards to follow her. The pair waited for a moment till they were completely alone,

"I really wish you didn't have to go," Korkie said, Esinon sighed,

"I know, but I really have to get to Dogma as soon as possible. I'll call you every day," she replied, Korkie nodded, she placed a kiss on his cheek. She started for her ship but before she could make it away, Korkie grabbed her wrist and pulled her back in, kissing her deeply. This was something she could get used to.

**Two days later, Tipoca City, Kamino…**

Esinon pulled up her hood over her head as she stepped down the catwalk of her ship. She reached out her hand and let the rain splatter over it, she had always loved the rain, it reminded her of home. Spinner beeped a couple times,

"You can come with me if you want," She said, Spinner beeped excitedly, "Yeah, I'm anxious to see Dogma too," Only the force knew what he had experienced in there. She walked towards the door and was greeted by Taun We.

"General Windcaster, it is so good to see you," he said, bowing to her, she repeated the gesture,

"As well you, Taun We," she replied, she followed him down the hallway of Kamino, nodding to a few troopers, a few of them recognizing her from her time training troops. A group of young cadets passed by them, whispering to each other at the sight of a Jedi. She waved to them as they passed,

"So why did you wish to have custody of CT-2254, and CT-0116?" she asked,

"I… the prisoners in question both seem to have a loathing of Jedi. For my studies at the temple, I'm doing an extended study on their psychological state." she lied, she couldn't lose custody now. "Taun We, may I ask why the prisoners are being held here, instead of a Republic prison?"

"For special cases such as betrayal and execution of Jedi is quite concerning, so we ask to keep them here for observation to find what went wrong in their training." Esinon's stomach clenched, she had trained Dogma, nothing went wrong, but they probably blamed her for Dogma's 'failure.'

"Have you found anything?" she asked, tugging her cloak around herself a little tighter.

"CT-2254 believes he did the right thing against his traitorous General, and CT-0116 refuses to say much of anything anymore. It is quite troubling. The clones are designed to withstand any psychological stress or trauma. His flawed reasoning and firm belief that he did the right thing is quite unique."

"I see," she replied quietly, she wasn't going to probe further because she knew what happened to clones here when they 'served beyond their usefulness.' She swallowed the bile that was creeping up her throat,

"Coming through!" the voice of a clone shouted, Esinon turned around to see a giant ball droid rolling down the hall, with a clone walking along the top. She and Taun We split to let the droid and the clone pass, just as the droid was about to disappear around the corner the clone jumped off. He had gray stripes and curved around his armor, and his hair was way past regulation length, he looked like Tup when he left his hair down.

"CT-2195, what are you doing out of the lab?" Taun We asked quite annoyed. The clone grinned,

"Well, Taun We, for the last time my name is Byte and it isn't often that we get a new Jedi in the building." Esinon raised a brow at the clone, he stuck out his hand, "I'm Byte,"

"General Esinon Windcaster," she said, shaking his hand, Byte glanced down at Spinner before crouching down in front of the astromech.

"And who might you be?" he asked,

'_I'm Spinner,'_ the droid twittered, Byte grinned,

"He's your droid I presume,"

"My friend," Esinon added, Byte grinned even wider,

"Now that is my kind of person, my droid Emily and I are like you and Spinner," he explained,

"And that was the ball droid?"

"Yeah, she's got legs, but we prefer to roll. I see you modified him to have thrusters," Esinon nodded,

"I like computers and other mechanics so I mess around with his inner working while I'm off. He likes it, being unique from other mechs." Byte chuckled,

"Maybe me and my brother Jeho can join your legion after the Kaminoans are finished profiting off _our _inventions." Byte said, glaring at Taun We. The Kaminoan rolled her eyes,

"You are Republic property CT-2195, so technically they're our inventions." she shot back. Byte scoffed,

"Yeah, yeah, they can be your inventions when you are putting hours in at the lab, when you are laboring over failed projects, and creating something out of nothing."

"You're an engineer?" Esinon asked, cutting into the argument. Byte nodded,

"Some of the GAR's finest, it's pretty much just Jeho and I. You should come visit the lab," he said, Esinon nodded. She'd never met clones who were engineers, especially when he appeared to be a Kaminoan guard. Creativity wasn't exactly encouraged among the clones by the Kaminoans.

"CT-2195, please go back to the lab where you belong," Taun We said frustratedly, "General Windcaster is very busy," The Kaminoan pushed her along as Esinon waved to Byte,

"Maybe some other time!"

"It was nice meeting you!" he called back, Esinon grinned at him as she shoved around the corner.

"Sorry about him, he has a mind of his own." Taun We said as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Oh, that's alright, he seems nice," she replied,

"As long as he supplies the latest and greatest in weaponry technology," Taun We sighed, Esinon nodded as they reached their destination. The detention block. If she searched hard enough through the force she could feel Dogma's presence, it hadn't changed much since the last time she saw him. It had been what? Three weeks, maybe four? Time seemed to blend together these days. She just hoped he was ok, and hopefully, his cellmate would like her, it would be a miserable eight weeks if he didn't. "Beyond this checkpoint is where the prisoners are held. And you needn't worry about escape attempts, they are quite futile," she reassured, Esinon only nodded, this place was starting to mess with her head. "You may proceed," Taun We motioned her forward, Esinon handed over her lightsaber and comlink,

"Alright, you're good to go General." he said, she began to walk forward, "Sir, if I may," she nodded, "I have a word of advice, even contained… the men in there are very dangerous. Just be careful,"

"Thank you for the warning, I will be careful," she said, smiling, he nodded and opened the door. Esinon was met with another Kaminoan scientist on the other side of the door,

"They way please," she said, Esinon hated that voice. So sickeningly sweet, ever Kaminoan seemed to share that feature. She scanned along the rows of cells seeing they were all fogged, and it was quiet. Eerily quiet.

"It's really quiet in here," she murmured,

"The cells are sound-proof so the prisoners don't have any interaction beyond what is permitted." the scientist said, Esinon resisted the urge to pause at any cell.

"Is that why the glass is fogged?" Esinon asked, she hadn't been allowed in the detention center a year ago, although Bear's tight expression always tightened further whenever they passed it.

"Yes, outside of tests, exercise time, they mostly stay here, and some get the privilege of eating in the mess hall." She paused at a cell sensing distress inside, she could see the outline of a hand against the fogged glass. The scientist was continuing to ramble about prisoner privileges and procedures, as Esinon tentatively reached out her hand. "General?"

"Can he hear me?" she asked, fingers brushing the glass. The fog flickered for a moment and she backed away, afraid she had broken something.

"No, but if you wish, you can touch the glass and it will clear, enabling you to see each other." she pressed her hand against the glass, she wished she hadn't, but she couldn't help herself. WHOOM. The fogged glass cleared and a trooper with half of his face covered in metal stared back at her. His cybernetic eye flickering, he tapped his finger five times then paused, six times then paused, four times then paused, eight times and then stopped. She recognized that it was tap code.

_H-E-L-P _

"I want to," she whispered, "You don't know how much I want to help, I want to fix it," He tapped his message again, "Why is he in here?" she asked the scientist,

"An injury." the doctor replied, her voice void of all emotion. "Too much psychological trauma, he can only recognize the prisoner in there with him. We can't send either of them out to battle."

"You're studying him," she murmured,"

"Yes, and when we finish, he will be destroyed." The scientist explained. The other trooper in the cell got up and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. Esinon couldn't hear him but she could read his lips just fine,

'_She's not here to help us, no one's coming for us. Let her go.' _

'_But she's a Jedi,' _Esinon could sense the turmoil, the pain, the guilt. The emotions that echoed in every cell,

'_Let her go, she's not here to help us. The Jedi got us in this mess in the first place.' _The other trooper glared at her, '_Go. You're only making him suffer further,' _A tear rolled down the face of the first trooper's face, '_I know you can understand me. Go!' _Esinon removed her hand from the glass, stumbling backward. Spinner nudged her leg worriedly, letting out a low whistle. She didn't realize her hands were trembling until Spinner extended his metal hand and clasped hers.

"Sorry," she whispered,

"Are you coming General?" the scientist asked, Esinon nodded, gripping Spinner's hand a little tighter.

"Yes, I'm coming," she followed the scientist down rows of cells, trying to keep her eyes down and off of all the troopers she couldn't save. She was saving Dogma and his cellmate, she was doing what she could to save who she could from the cruelty of the Kaminoans. When the war was over, she made a promise to herself and to all of the soldiers here, she would come back and save them. She continued to take deep breaths as her crystal began to heat up on her chest, _Jedi,_ a clone pounded against his cell as she passed, _respect, _more pounding, her crystal burned hotter, _life, _she could feel her breathing quickening as she passed another cell, where she could see a trooper hugging his knees to his chest, _in any, _her crystal grew even hotter, was Qui-Gon trying to tell her something? "What is it?" she murmured. There in the middle in the hallway was Krell holding a struggling Waxer in his massive fist, he grinned wickedly.

"Verd'ika," Waxer choked, scratching at Krell's hand. Her fingers flickering over her lightsaber. Searching for a weapon that wasn't there. Krell cackled,

"You can't save any of them padawan!"

"Esinon please!" Waxer strangled, then Krell snapped his neck and her brother crumpled to the ground.

"No!" Spinner beeped loudly in binary, as the Kaminoan stared at her. Her crystal went cold, it wasn't real, Waxer wasn't there, he was dead. Dead because of her. All that stared back at her was a scientist, she ran a hand down her face, her head pounding.

"General, are you alright?" she asked, Esinon tightened her grip on Spinner's hand again trying to ground herself.

"This place is messing with me," she mumbled to herself.

"General?"

"I'm fine," she replied quickly, Esinon quickened her pace to catch up with the scientist who was waiting in front of a cell.

"We did not have time to alert the prisoners of your arrival, so they may be startled," she explained, Esinon nodded, clasping her crystal, her stomach flipping over itself. The scientist pressed the button the door opening,

"...a visitor, I wonder who it is," the first trooper said, sarcastically, both of them still facing the wall, "More psych tests, ooo, maybe they'll put me in isolation again, or maybe they'll finally end my suffering."

"Don't jump to conclusions, and quit being such a-" Dogma said, turning around, he froze seeing her standing in the doorway. "General?"

"Hi Dogma," she greeted softly, they both stared at each other for a moment, Spinner beeped excitedly nudging Dogma's legs.

"Hey little guy," Dogma said softly, crouching to meet the droid. Esinon smiled softly at the scene while Dogma conversed with Spinner who was excitedly blabbering. Esinon glanced up at the second trooper who was wearing an icy glare and a look of disgust,

"Hi, I'm Es-"

"I don't care scum," he growled,

"Slick," Dogma hissed,

"Oh, I uh- Slick was it?" Esinon said a little flustered, she opened up her mouth to speak again, but the scientist interrupted.

"General Windcaster has come to collect you. I expect both of you to be compliant to her and follow her commands," she instructed, the second trooper crossed his arms, staring at Esinon with disdain.

"You can _expect _all you want, but I'm not going anywhere with a Jedi. You'll have to sedate me to get me to go anywhere with _her_." he snapped,

"Slick!" Dogma hissed,

"As always, sedation can be arranged," the scientist said, folding her long fingers over each other. Esinon held up her hand,

"Sedation won't be necessary," she said, the General part of her mind taking over. She just wanted to leave this place before she had another mental attack. "It's not a far walk to my ship, so let's not make this more difficult than it has to be." Slick stepped forward, a snarl forming on his lips, Esinon could feel her heartbeat quickening, but held her ground.

"Difficult? Listen _Jedi_." he crouched down and got to eye level with her. "I am not going _anywhere _with you!" he snarled, she stepped back feeling very, very, guilty.

"Could I have a moment with them alone?" Esinon asked the scientist, never breaking her gaze with Slick. The Kaminoan scientist nodded and walked off,

"I'm getting you out of here, that's why I came," she said quietly, Spinner nudging her hand worriedly as Dogma rose to his feet. "So can we please go?"

"Wait Jedi, are you serious?" Slick asked, she could tell he didn't want hope, just to be tricked. Esinon pulled out a holo-recorder from her belt, pressing the button, her verification form appearing. She let them both get a good look at it,

"Please? Can we go?" she asked in a quiet voice, she glanced past the two men to where Waxer had been.

"Yes sir," Dogma said, Slick rolled his eyes,

"Yeah, yeah, whatever Jedi," he said, Slick said, Esinon led them back down the hall, keeping her eyes ahead, trying not to have another surprise mental attack.

"General Windcaster?"

"Here we go," Slick murmured,

"Calm down," Esinon muttered, "Yes?"

"We were wondering if you submit your findings as soon as you complete your studies?" The scientist asked, she nodded,

"Of course, I won't have any problem turning in any findings I have. I'll send a copy," she said, flashing a smile,

"What are you playing at Jedi?" Slick hissed through clenched teeth,

"Deep breath, a ploy," she replied, turning on her heel and heading for the door. It was gonna be a long two months.

"So why do this anyway? Jedi have never cared for us before." Slick whispered, Esinon paused for a second but forced herself to keep walking.

"Because there have been a lot of people I couldn't save. People I cared about, Slick. This is the least I can do." she said, as they neared the checkpoint.

"It's about time one of you Jedi did something half decent," he grumbled, Esinon's fist clenched, it wasn't too late to leave him- she glanced over at the cell that the cybernetic clone resided in. _When we are finished, he will be destroyed. _She bit her lip, her chin quivering, she turned her head down, _Jedi do not rule over other's lives.- Jedi must protect those who are weak and defenseless. That is why you are blessed with such extraordinary gifts, so you can protect those who can't protect themselves.- You can't save any of them! _

"Why are we stopping?" Slick asked, Esinon blinked a couple of times. she had stopped dead in her tracks.

"Sorry, let's go." she pressed the button to open the door to the checkpoint, the trooper in gray still waiting there.

"General Windcaster, when I warned you about the men in there, how dangerous they are, I didn't expect you to come back with... deficients in tow." Esinon's stomach clenched, w_e can only assume there is a malfunction in your design_.

"You want to say that again?" Slick growled, she put a hand out in front of him and shook her head,

"Slick," she whispered,

"Are you hard of hearing as well deficient?" the guard asked wryly,

"Why you piece of-" Esinon cleared her throat loudly, both of them stopped.

"Yeah, I may look little, but I'm still your General. Now, _Sargent_, you're kinda holding me up here." She flashed her verification form, "I've got a lot of work to do and-" she glanced down on her Chrono, "I've got Captain Rex waiting on the line for me. So can I have my saber and comlink so I can go?"

"Of course sir, my apologies," the Sargent continued to glare at Slick, with Slick holding his ground. She wanted to get out of here before Slick did something stupid and she lost custody of them. The Sargent finally handed over her stuff and opened the door to the rest of the facility, she heard Dogma follow her, but she heard the Sargent whispering, "It's too bad you're leaving, I was really looking forward to your termination." Esinon resisted the urge to punch that clone out cold, how could he _ever _say something like to a brother?

"I'm sure you were," Slick smirked, before finally following Esinon out into the hallway.

"General, if I may give a word of advice," She inwardly sighed, when would he let her leave?

"Yes Sargent?"

"Be careful around Slick, he's always been vocal about his hate for Jedi, calling them slavers. Nor has he shied away from his want to personally harm any of you."

"I'll keep that in mind," she replied quickly, she'd find out more about Slick later, she was more concerned about getting off Kamino. They made the short walk to her ship, where a thunderstorm raged,

"The weather here is just lovely," she mumbled to herself,

"Yeah, hasn't changed much since you were here a year ago." Dogma replied,

"Are we making a run for the ship?" Slick asked,

"Probably better to get soaked instead of making the Kaminoans suspicious," she replied, tugging her hood over her head. Esinon pressed the button and the catwalk lowered, "All aboard,"

"I can't do this," Dogma murmured, Esinon turned around,

"What do you mean?" she asked, gently placing her hand on his shoulder. Dogma had been through so much, Umbara left its scars on all of them,

"I can't- after… what I did," he choked, staring down at his hands, like they were some sort of weapon he would use to accidentally hurt her. "I almost executed my brothers because I was too stupid and blind to even consider Krell was wrong! I could have been the reason you never got to see Fives again."

"Fives will go out of his own accord," she muttered to herself, "But Dogma, we really have to go, I know how hard this is."

"I should never have left," Dogma said, starting to back away from the ship.

"Dogma, look at me please,"

"How can you even look at me?" he whispered, refusing to turn his head up.

"Because I know you, Dogma." she tapped a finger over his heart,

"I deserve it- I deserve everything that was waiting for me in there, I deserve it General-"

"Dogma." She said, a little more forcefully, "You do not deserve that. Look at me." He finally turned his head up, "You do not deserve that."

"I'm never going to say this again but for once just listen to the Jedi!" Slick exclaimed,

"I can't save everyone, but I can save you and Slick. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you I was coming, I'm sorry you thought I abandoned you, I know _how much_ that hurts." her tone softened, "Please let me, Dogma," He finally nodded and allowed her to take his hand and lead him up the catwalk, "Any last words because we're not coming back here." Dogma shook his head,

"Well I do," Slick said, following them into the ship, "Good riddance."

"Alright, cockpit's this way," Esinon motioned for them to follow,

"So you got a name Jedi?" Slick asked, peeking his head in a few rooms,

"Esinon, I'll answer all your questions as soon as we get into hyperspace," she promised, "Also, Dogma, Rex and Tup want to see you. I promised them we'd call as soon as I get to hyperspace."

"Tup wants to see me?" Dogma lit up,

"Of course he does," she replied, taking her seat, "You coming Slick?" she called to the meandering clone,

"Yeah, yeah, I'm comin'." He plopped down in a seat, looking relieved to be out of his cell, but not too happy that it was a Jedi who had gotten him out. "So what exactly is the plan?"

"I'll explain everything when we get to hyperspace," Esinon said, trying to avoid the inevitable, telling them that she had to pay to get them out. Slick was going to kill her. She tightened her grip on the controls, Spinner nudged her leg. He looked up at her, urging her to keep going. "Right, Spinner find some planet in the outer rim, we'll figure it out." The droid beeped in response, plugging into the port.

"You're hiding something," Slick said, she knew she saw the muscles in her shoulders tense. "I want to know what it-"

"Slick," Dogma growled, "Leave General Windcaster alone, if you've got a problem with her then you've got a problem with me." Esinon discreetly glanced at Dogma, he never used to be this forward… about anything.

"Are you serious?" Slick exclaimed, betrayal hunting in his voice.

"Do you want to test me right now?" Dogma snarled, Slick growled, and turned around. Esinon kept her eyes forwards as she pulled the ship into the sky, steadily gaining altitude as they burst through the cloud layer into a bright sun-filled sky.

"Whoa," Dogma breathed,

"I thought I'd never see it again," Slick murmured,

"Me either,"

"See what?" Esinon asked,

"The sun," they replied in unified awe. She smiled softly, sadness lacing it, she almost didn't want to know what had happened to them in there…

"I'm glad you get to see it," she whispered, she fiddled with her crystal, "I promise to get both of you somewhere safe,"

"Safe…" Slick murmured, he ran a hand through his hair, "This is actually happening. Whoa."

"W-we're alright," Dogma muttered, burying his head in his hands, Esinon squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. Spinner plugged in the coordinates and shot them into hyperspace.

"I… I'm ready to answer any questions you might have about what's gonna happen from here or… anything along those lines," she said, rubbing her sweaty palms along her knees. Slick grumbled to himself before standing up and making to leave.

"I'm going for a look around," he said,

"O-ok, have fun," Esinon said, he rolled his eyes in response.

"He'll come around," Dogma assured her,

"It's fine," she said, "he doesn't have to… come around. He can hate me all he wants I guess."

"But it doesn't have to be that way," Dogma said, Esinon sighed, slouching in her seat, watching the star whip past.

"I can't change others, I've learned that the hard way. I can't control anyone's decision but my own." She'd been saying that to herself a lot, she couldn't control anyone's decisions but her own. "I'll get food and clothes when we stop,"

"I was wondering what the plan was," Dogma said, "You know how I get when everything isn't planned out." She chuckled, Dogma grinned, it was nice to see her smile after everything. There was the bouncy Commander… now General, he had always known and loved.

"Well, we're going wherever you and Slick want to go. Although you'll have to translate for me, I don't speak in grunts and groans." she joked, "Anyways after you guys pick a place to live, I'll get you set up with jobs and housing. That way you'll be able to buy a ship and travel where you want. So you just have to pick the place and we'll go." She would tell them about the money thing later when they were all together again.

**A few hours later…**

Esinon tugged a cloak over her head, securing a blaster in her belt. "Are you sure you don't want us to come?" Dogma asked, following her towards the catwalk, with Slick close on his tail.

"I'm sure, I'll be alright Dogma." she replied, smiling at him, "I am an ARC trooper after all," She tucked a credit card in her belt, "And I should be gone for a few hours tops," Dogma grinned, it was nice to see him smile. "She's told you multiple times that she'll be fine Dogma, just let her go and be useful for once," Slick said, it took all of her willpower to not glare at him, what was it with this guy? Maybe Cody would have some answers,

"I'll be back in a few hours with clothes and food," she said, pulling her hood over her head, Slick rolled his eyes, disappearing around the corner. She produced a comlink from her pocket, "Take this, contact me if you need anything, and I'll be there in a flash." She winked before starting down the catwalk into the open-air market of an outer rim planet they had made a pit stop at.

"General, I-" Dogma began, she waited, "Thank you for coming back, and taking time out of your leave to come and get us, and I'm really sorry about Slick. He's a… tough personality."

"You really don't need to thank me," she assured him, "And after seeing- feeling everything in the detention center. I understand why he hates me." She couldn't shake the feeling of pain and guilt, she knew it was childish, but she just wanted to… fix it. Somehow. She knew she couldn't, but she really wished she could.

"He'll learn," she sighed,

"He doesn't have to," After Umbara there were plenty of troopers who hated her, blaming her for everything. Rex said it was because they didn't know her, they were grieving and needed someone to blame.

"General?" Dogma asked, searching her face as she rubbed her side where the worst of her injury had been. She'd of course had more, a pierced kidney, she almost collapsed a lung, the gash on her side seven pieces of shrapnel. Now that she thought about it, it was really stupid what she had done. She thought it would make things better, it didn't all it got her was almost dead, and everyone worried sick.

"It's nothing," She murmured, "Anyways, I'll be back in a few hours." She walked down the catwalk and headed into town.

"A few hours," Dogma said, tapping his foot, thumbing the comlink, "a few hours," he looked around, Slick had been gone for a while now, he wanted to find him before he got into something he wasn't supposed to. "Slick!"

* * *

"Now what are you hiding Jedi?" Slick muttered to himself as he slunk into Esinon's quarters, well until she decided to dump them when it was convenient for her, their quarters. This was a Corellian Rigger-light freighter, mostly used for spice running, but was also used by the Jedi. Both parties were scum in his opinion. There were about six bunks in here, but only one of them was in use, the bed was disheveled, but two of them had fresh sheets and blankets on them. She had been preparing for their arrival.

He sat down on her bed, tugging at the drawer underneath. A few cloaks and spare robes were shoved haphazardly into the drawer, looked like she hadn't bothered to fold her clothes beforehand. He rolled his eyes, she wasn't a soldier, that was for sure. He spotted a datapad sitting on top of the clothes, he grabbed it, scrolling along data entries, and letters. He scrolled down the entries to a folder marked Dogma, he got curious and tapped on it.

_There's a problem with my crusade to get Dogma and his cellmate out of prison. The Kaminoans want money, and no matter what I try to do they won't move. They keep saying that Dogma is their property, if I could I would punch the Kaminoans in the face. I also wish they would tell me Dogma's cellmate's name, other than just a number. I've looked him up everywhere and every file is locked. Obi-Wan never told me the passcode, so I can't open any of them. At least I hope he likes me, I guess I'm nervous. I'm going to tell him and Dogma, and maybe Dogma will hate me, but him hating me is better than him being-_

"Slick, are you in here?" Dogma asked, peeking his head around the corner. Slick shoved the datapad under the blanket, Dogma would get all in a fuss about him looking through Esinon's stuff. "There you are,"

"What? Did ya miss me?" Slick asked, rising from Esinon's bed. He would have to question the Jedi filth about all of this later.

"Well uh- what are you doing?"

"Checking out our new living amenities," Slick replied, "Looks like your precious Jedi has been preparing for our arrival." Dogma looked over a few holos that were posted above Esinon's bed, mostly ones of her and Obi-Wan.

'_She must miss him so much,'_ Dogma thought to himself, "So how much of the ship did you explore?" he asked,

"Enough," Slick grumbled, thinking about everything that he could probably find on that datapad. Dogma sighed,

"You could be nicer to her you know, she's been through a lot." Dogma said, turned away from the holos. He remembered when Rex explained everything that had happened with Esinon ignoring injury, right before he was shipped off to prison.

"Sure she has," Slick replied sarcastically,

"She was there Slick. On Umbara, she was devastated you know."

"Yeah, I'm sure she was," Dogma sighed, he knew he wasn't winning this battle right now.

"I'm gonna go check on Spinner," he said, Slick watched him leave, listening to his footsteps fade before returning to the datapad.

"Time to catch up on some light reading," he murmured to himself as he opened the next entry.

**A few hours later…**

After about the second entry Slick had to stop, he was fuming. She bought them. She _bought _them. Like pieces of meat, slaves, he was going to kill that Jedi if it was the last thing he ever did. He hid her datapad in the drawer and went to find Dogma, he could convince his brother to steal her ship while she was out. They could get out before she could use them again! He set off into the ship to find Dogma, he soon found his brother standing in front of a door,

"Dogma- what are you doing?" Slick asked,

"Thinking," he mumbled,

"Well, have you tried going inside the room?" Slick asked,

"It's locked," Dogma said, staring blankly at the door, trying to process everything that had happened in the past few hours. Slick elbowed past him, forgetting his little crusade to get them out of here and leave that Jedi behind. He fiddled with the panel, trying to get the door to open. "We should leave it alone, General Windcaster probably doesn't want us going in there anyway." Slick pulled the panel open, starting to mess with it to hardwire the door open.

"No, we're going in here," Slick said, hand flying as he yanked out a bunch of wires. Dogma sighed, "Come on, I was kriffing bred for this."

"Let it go Slick,"

"You're only saying that because you want to appease your Jedi," he growled, Slick paused,

"Quit calling her my Jedi, will ya?"

"Wait Dogma, she's gone. That Jedi filth is gone! Let's take the ship while she's out and leave before she can use us again!" Slick exclaimed, jumping up from his crouched position on the floor.

"We're not leaving Slick, she got us out of prison. We're not even entertaining that idea." Dogma said, Slick grumbled in response,

"Come on Dogma-"

"That's the end of the conversation," Dogma said, his comlink buzzed,

"Your Jedi's calling," Slick said, turning his attention back to the panel and the locked door.

"Quit calling her that," he mumbled, answering the hailing. "Hello General,"

"Your brothers call you General?" a woman on the other line asked,

"Uh- childhood nickname. I was a very bossy child growing up," Esinon said hurriedly, Slick rolled his eyes. But pumped his fists in triumph as the door slid open,

"Tell your Jedi I'm going into her locked room," Slick whispered, Dogma rolled his eyes, "Is there something we can help you with?" Dogma asked, shoving Slick's shoulder.

"What sizes do you guys wear?"

"Huh?" she sighed,

"Sizes, what cloth sizes do you wear?" she asked, "Like do you guys have tags in the inside of pants and shirts?"

"People tag their clothes?" Slick asked quietly,

"You know, they tag their clothes to tell sizes-"

"I think it's one size fits all, General," Dogma replied, Esinon sighed,

"Of course it is," she whispered, "I'll figure it out, one more question before I go. Do you guys have any preferences for colors?"

"No orange," Slick said suddenly,

"I've always liked the color green," Dogma said,

"No orange and get green. Alright, thank you." she ended the transmission,

"See? Not so bad," Dogma said, Slick didn't answer, he was distracted by something in the room he had just fought to enter. Dogma stuffed the comlink in his belt and carefully entered the room. "Slick, what are you- whoa." Slick had found the rec room, There was a small section of training equipment, a kitchenette with an open box of honey-lemon tea on the counter, there was a closet off on the right, and a wall full of holos.

"Look Dogma, there's one of you here," Slick said, Dogma scanned down a row of holos. There was one of her, Fives, Echo, and Rex, one of her and her cousin Elliot, one of the Tornado Trio, one of her and Obi-Wan, and right there, was one of her with and his squad. He really missed them. It hurt to lose everyone but Tup, and then be ripped away from him as well. He hated that his brother had been left alone… well, he wasn't alone, not exactly. Slick turned away from the holos as Dogma continued to study them, he looked over at the silver closet on the right. He pulled it open, an array of blasters and Vibro-knives covered the walls. Her favorite seemed to be a DC-17,

"Slick, what are you- whoa." Dogma murmured, staring at the plethora of weapons, Slick pulled a DC off the wall studying it.

"Why would she have all these?"

"I dunno, General Windcaster is versatile with all sorts of weapons. She had informal ARC training, it's why she was chosen to train troopers on Kamino." he explained, Slick replaced the blaster back in the closet.

"But what is one woman doing with this many blasters and knives when she already has a lightsaber?" he asked, Dogma shrugged his shoulders,

"General Windcaster is versatile with all sorts of weapons, she had informal ARC training."

"I knew she was hiding something," he murmured, Dogma didn't hear him.

* * *

Esinon added another shirt to her stack of clothes,

"You got somethin' against the color orange?" the twi'lek saleswoman asked,

"No, I actually quite like it, but my brother requested no orange."

"You're brothers made you go shopping for them?" she asked with a laugh,

"Nope, out of the goodness of my own heart. Besides, they needed to talk some stuff over and it's been a while since I've gotten off the ship," she replied,

"I'm ready to help you check out whenever you're ready," she said, with a smile,

"Thank you," Esinon added a couple of dresses and clothes for her to her basket, she didn't want to rock Jedi robes for the next six weeks. It would be more inconspicuous that way. She finished finding all of the clothing and checked out, heading to the next store to find toiletries.

**A few hours later…**

She had finally collected everything they would need, everything except food of course. She strolled through the sandy open-air market looking over food options when a billboard caught her eye.

'_Mass breakout out Republic Prison, including the Jedi Killer, Rako Hardeen.' _she froze, _I lost him! Does anyone have eyes?- POW!- AHH!- OBI-WAN! _

"Miss, are you alright?" The salesman asked from behind his stand of fruit, Esinon shook her head slightly before using her speed to disappear back to the ship. She sunk to her knees, her heart racing, she sucked in a harsh breath, _I can do this, I'm ok. _She pulled herself back upward and walked into the ship, finding the halls eerily quiet, when there was supposed to be two clones here.

"Dogma? Slick?" she continued to wander the halls, "Come on, where are they? Dogma! Slick!"

"General?" Dogma asked, peeking his head around the corner,

"Move it Dogma," Slick pushed Dogma out of the doorway to the rec room.

"Hey, great, you guys found the rec room," she said, happily, trying to shove away all the memories from _that _night pounding through her mind. "I-" She looked at Slick's hand to see him holding up a datapad,

"Yeah Jedi, recognize this?" He asked, his voice filled with venom. The force rippled with only one thing, Slick wanted to kill her. "When were you planning on telling us that you bought us? Feel like adding a few more slaves to your army?" A look of betrayal and hurt crossed her face, she knew exactly where she'd put her datapad.

"You went through my stuff?" she asked quietly,

"Slick!" Dogma exclaimed in horror. Slick ignored him, a snarl forming on his face, taking steps towards the young Jedi General.

"That's right, I read your little datapad and you _bought _us." he snarled, Esinon took a step back, fingers flicking for a weapon that wasn't there.

"I was going to tell you," she said, trying to not feel terrified.

"When," He growled,

"You had no right to be going through my stuff," she said, her voice hardening ever so slightly.

"And I have a right to know this!"

"And I was going to tell you if you would have stopped and listened to me for four seconds!" she snapped, "Just-" she took a deep breath, "Right now, I want you off my ship. Now I am going to go meditate before I punch a hole in the wall, or your face, whichever comes first."

"See Dogma!" Slick shouted as he stormed off, "This is what Jedi do! They throw you away!"

"No. No!" Esinon shouted, getting increasingly more upset. "I am holding _you_ accountable for _your _actions. We are all taking time out! Take the datapad, go outside, keep reading!" She stormed off towards the cockpit. She couldn't believe that Slick had done this! He went through her stuff! She never said that he couldn't look around, but seriously? This was a violation of her trust,

'_Are you ok?' _Spinner beeped,

"No, no Spinner, I am not ok. I'm starting to think that this was a very, very bad idea," she said, collapsing into the pilot's seat. "Argh! What was I thinking! I should have just taken Dogma and gone!" She paused, _When we are finished, he will be destroyed. _She let out a shuddered breath, pressing her forehead to her fists. "Spinner, being strong all the time is really hard." she whispered, Esinon felt vulnerable and weak. Things she couldn't afford to feel, she had to keep being strong, she had to.

* * *

"Slick! Slick slow down!" Dogma shouted as he chased after his brother. "Why are you acting like this? What made you think it would be alright to go through her stuff?" Slick turned on his heel, clutching the datapad tightly,

"Acting? She's hiding something, doesn't that bother you? The datapad, the knives, the locked rooms, everything! She's not telling us something if your precious Jedi trusted you so much-"

"It's not about her trusting me, Slick!" Dogma shouted, motioning to himself, "It's about me trusting her! She got us out of Kamino, didn't she?"

"But she's still hiding something, look if you don't believe me." Slick said, tossing him the datapad.

"No! That's my point! We have to trust her-"

"And how well did it end last time you trusted a Jedi, huh?"

"Slick. Don't go there." Dogma growled,

"I'm just saying, you were blind to Krell using you-"

"I said to leave alone,"

"How do you know she's not using you now?"

"I SAID LEAVE IT ALONE!" he screamed, shoving Slick away from him.

"Dogma! Quit being blind to what's happening. You think we're gonna stay here and act like one big happy family? It's not gonna happen, as soon as it's convenient for her, that slaver will come out and use us again! What in the galaxy has she done to earn that loyalty from you?"

"She's the only one other than Rex who fought for me! Don't you get that? General Windcaster came back! No one else did that! On Kamino while she was finishing my training, she invited me to sit at lunch with her, she got me to open up to my squad and actually make friends, to have a bond with my brothers. Before she arrived, I had had longer conversations with rule manuals. She didn't have to seek me out, but she did, and she didn't give up when I wouldn't open up. Our own brothers didn't raise a hand to defend us because they thought we were defective. General Windcaster doesn't think that. She doesn't think that we're worth being disposed of that way, in a way that everyone else thinks we should. What about any of that makes her the enemy?" Dogma started towards the ship, "I know I was blind to Krell, but I'm not being blind to General Windcaster." Dogma stalked into the ship, Slick growled sliding against the ship wall and into the sand.

"Dang it Dogma."

* * *

Dogma sat down in a corner, pulling his knees up to his chest. He was so angry at Slick. Why couldn't he just leave Esinon alone! She was allowed to have a private life, and Slick was wrong. Esinon didn't buy them, she bought their freedom. If Slick thought that the Kaminoans would let her take them without paying first he was delusional.

"Dogma," Slick called softly,

"What do you want Slick?" he asked, staring at his feet.

"I wanted to ask if we're ok? I don't want a Jedi tearing us apart," he said, sitting down next to Dogma.

"Yeah, we're good. I'm just asking you to open to it. If you think about it, she bought our freedom, not us. I'm sure if she had any other options she would have used them. General Windcaster trained me, and I knew her for my first year on the field." Slick wrapped an arm around Dogma,

"I'll be open to it if you'll be open to the possibility, she isn't everything she says she is." Dogma nodded, wrapping his arm around Slick,

"Alright," Esinon came around the corner, thumbing the edge of her cloak, holding the bags of clothes in her opposite hand.

"Can I talk to you both?" She asked, the troopers nodded as she sat down at a safe distance away from them. "I wanted to tell you about how I had to pay the Kaminoans to get you out of prison. The reason I didn't tell you both right away is that for one I was nervous, that's on me. But two, if you would have kept reading Slick, you would have found out that I'm attempting to get both of you Republic citizenship. I didn't want to tell you in case it fell through, I was waiting for the process to be completed. I should have everything through by next week," she set the bag of clothes in front of them, she'd already dropped her own clothes in her room, well their room. She was sharing for the next eight weeks. "Here are the clothes I bought, but we need to get going." Slick peeked into the bag,

"Hey Jedi, where's the food?"

"This Jedi has a name," she mumbled to herself, "And we're gonna eat at the next stop,"

"Why can't we eat here?" Slick asked, Esinon never answered because she had already disappeared around the corner. Emotions were high on the ship, and sometimes people forgot that Esinon could feel all of those emotions all of the time. So with memories of Obi-Wan and Rako Hardeen pounding through her mind, Esinon set a direct course to Coruscant in the heat of the moment. She was going Hardeen hunting, Anakin had gotten a chance to, why couldn't she? She pulled her knees to her chest, getting lost in all her memories again when the whoosh of the blast door tore her from her thoughts. Dogma and Slick entered wearing the news clothes she had bought, Dogma was wearing a green tunic and black pants. Slick was wearing a blue tunic with pants that were tan with a black stripe up the legs.

"So you like the clothes alright?"

"They're great sir," Dogma replied,

"We're wearing them aren't we?" Slick grumbled, flopping into one of the chairs.

"Spinner, can you help Dogma land the ship?" she asked, getting out of the pilot's chair. Spinner spun his head in a yes response and shoved Dogma into the pilot's seat.

"Wait, sir, are you sure about this?"

"You'll be fine Dogma, you watched me land the ship the first time. Besides, Spinner won't let anything happen," she reassured, patting the droid's head. "I'm gonna go get changed," Esinon walked out of the cockpit, starting for her, well for the next two months, their quarters.

"Hey Jedi," Slick called, she turned, plastering a smile on her face,

"Yes?"

"I need to have a word with you," he said, grabbing her wrist. She quickly pulled away from his tight grip,

"What can I do for you?" she asked, she was really trying to get Slick to like her, she was still mad at him for going through her stuff.

"Stop being so pleasant," he growled, slamming his hand against the wall, trapping her. "Just listen, and listen good because I'm only gonna say this once. Unlike Dogma, I don't care what secrets you're hiding, and I know it's more than just the money. But if _any _of them come around to hurt my brother, I will ki-" he stopped himself, backing away from the shrinking Jedi,

"You will…" she paused, her eyes filled with fear, though he could tell she was trying to hide it. What Slick didn't know is that Esinon was having persistent nightmares of clones coming to kill her, because she didn't stop Krell. Slick backed up a little further, for an instant he didn't see a Jedi in front of him, he only saw a scared little girl.

"Nothing, I gotta get back to Dogma," he replied, folding his arms over his chest, she nodded, a little bit shaken by their encounter.

"Slick I-"

"What?" he snapped, she shook her head,

"Nothing, I'll meet you guys at the ramp," she replied, entering her quarters,

"Whatever you say, di'kut," he growled, stalking back towards the cockpit. Esinon sighed, rubbing her temples, she flicked on the lights. She pulled open the clothes drawer, stuffing her new dresses and clothes in along with it. She was getting locks for these next time they stopped. She pulled the blaster from her belt and stuffed it underneath her pillow. She couldn't shake the anger that she had felt radiating off of Slick, _Nor has he shied away from his want to personally harm any of you. _She had to be aware of who she was dealing with, Slick had been a former GAR soldier, he had the capability to kill her, and the want. She couldn't trust everyone, as much as she might like to.

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon was now armed, Vibro knives in her gauntlets and a blaster in her belt. She wouldn't risk being caught with her lightsaber, it would instantly ID her as a Jedi. She headed towards the catwalk where Slick and Dogma were waiting with blasters strapped to their thighs. "I see you guys found my weapons supply, good," she said, smiling,

"I see you guys found my weapons supply, good," she said, smiling. Yes, she had noticed that Slick had opened the door she had locked. It wasn't because she cared if they went in there or not, she locked that room more out of habit than anything. That weapons closet was Cody's for when he was on the ship, and she locked it so that if the ship was captured they would have a hard time getting to the supply. She didn't have a problem with them taking the weapons, as long as they didn't plan on using them against her.

"Yeah," Dogma said, seemingly more uncomfortable with the fact that he had a weapon strapped to his leg when she remembered that the last time he held a blaster it wasn't exactly a good day.

"So how many knives have you got under that pretty dress of yours?" Slick asked,

"Too many for you to count," she replied,

"So where exactly are we?" Dogma asked, Esinon pressed the door to the catwalk, it lowering,

"Welcome to level thirteen thirteen of Coruscant's underworld," she replied, as the glittering lights of the underworld appeared as the catwalk finished lowering.

"And why exactly would you bring us here? We're clones, everyone knows what clones look like here." Slick replied,

"I have my reasons. And contrary to popular belief, most people don't know what a clone's face looks like. Clones are mainly recognizable by their armor, and besides. The guard doesn't patrol down this far, so as far as anyone will be able to tell, you're a couple of twins." she explained,

"Why in the galaxy would you want to come here?" he asked again,

"Again, I have my reasons. Come on, there a bunch of good places to eat down here," she said,

"So you've been down this far?" he asked,

"No, but a friend told me about it. Don't worry, I know my way around down here."

"That's reassuring," Slick grumbled,

"You're a real ray of sunshine, you know that?" she smirked, Dogma stifled laughter and Slick elbowed him in the ribs,

"Couple of jokers," he grumbled, they walked through the streets for a little bit past different places,

"So I know a couple of places I like to eat, but we can eat wherever you guys want," she said, motioning to a couple of restaurants she liked.

"Wherever is fine," Dogma said, Slick didn't voice any objections as she quickly chose a restaurant and pulled the door open. They chose a table and sat down,

"Scoot," Slick said, edging Dogma further into the booth.

"I'll go get us some menus," Esinon said, getting up,

"Not to be nosy- nope, yeah I do mean to be nosy." Slick began, "But where are you getting all the money to pay for this stuff? Wouldn't want to waste all the money that you make as a Jedi on us." He meant it as a dig, but Esinon was a little absent-minded at the moment.

"Jedi don't get paid, we're all Republic funded. My dad is providing me with money, he's a Senator." she replied, before leaving. She soon returned with menus and they quickly ordered and received food. Esinon didn't eat much, she spent most of pushing food into different piles on her plate, getting lost in her thoughts.

"Sir, you alright?" Dogma asked, ripping her from her thoughts of Hardeen,

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, fine. Not that hungry," Which wasn't true, she was always hungry, speedster metabolism.

"That's surprising, Fives said you're a bottomless pit." Dogma laughed, she cracked a small smile,

"Yeah, that's how it usually goes-" she spotted someone pass by the restaurant, a blue-skinned man, with angular cheekbones, where tubes would have normally resided. Cad Bane. "I'll be right back, I've gotta take care of something." she said, getting out of the booth.

"Wait where are you going?" Slick asked,

"I'll be back in a couple minutes, both of you stay put." Slick started to rise from the booth,

"I'm not takin' orders from-" Dogma put a hand on Slick's shoulder and shook his head. Slick settled back into the booth grumbling, as Esinon left the restaurant. She crept after Bane, knowing that where she found him, she could probably find Eval and Hardeen. She was going to make that sniper pay for what he had taken from her. She tailed Bane for a while through the winding streets of level 1313 until they reached a ship, she grabbed the Vibro knife from her gauntlet as Bane stepped onto the ship. A man walked past him, stepping out of the ship. Hardeen. She plastered her back to the alleyway she had shrunk into, waiting for Hardeen to creep close enough to her.

* * *

Against his better judgment, Slick had followed Esinon through the streets of Coruscant, sending Dogma back to the ship to pick them up.

"Why am I doing this? I don't care about that Jedi," he growled to himself, yet he kept following her from a safe distance. She was following this blue-skinned man until she halted near a ship, plastering herself in an alleyway. What did she want with this guy?

* * *

She could sense Hardeen coming towards her, what was drawing him to her, she didn't know, but all she could feel was rage pounding in her heart. She could only see red as she focused in on Hardeen. As soon as he got near enough, she sprung forward, kicking him in the chest and stalking forward, baring the knife, he fumbled with a blaster for a moment and fired. She was hit in the shoulder, but it didn't hinder her, she could barely feel the wound with the amount of adrenaline pumping in her veins. Hardeen had scrambled to his feet, continuing to fire at her, but she used the force to deflect them, she called the blaster to her hand and crushed it in her fist.

She continued to march forward as Hardeen started to sprint away, she used her speed to get in front of him and socked him hard in the stomach bringing him to his knees. She pressed the knife against his collarbone, using the force to choke him, he grappled at the invisible hands closing around his windpipe.

_Kill him. _

She squeezed tighter, it would be so easy to kill him right here, right now. What did he do to deserve to live? The darkness started to shroud her whole being, without Obi-Wan's bond there, everything felt cold, so cold. Enough to send a shiver up her spine.

_Kill him now, while you have the chance. _

She was doing the galaxy a favor, getting rid of a killer. A murderer.

_KILL HIM NOW! _

"Esinon!" a voice yelled, she lost her concentration, letting go of Hardeen. She spotted Slick sprinting towards her, it distracted her long enough for Hardeen to disarm her and sock her in the jaw and make a run for his ship.

* * *

Slick had just watched Esinon almost kill a man, the smiley sunshine child that was always in too good a mood to be real, had almost murdered someone. His comlink buzzed, Dogma yelling something he couldn't understand in the moment, so instead of answering as he should have, he denied the hailing. Instead, he ran over the panting padawan,

"Jedi, can you hear me?" he asked, shaking her shoulders. The ship that the man had entered took off, leaving in a hurry. It was like she was going into shock, but she didn't look injured. Wait- she had been shot. "Esinon, come on, we have to leave," Slick said, pulling her up, seeing Dogma pulling around, the fight that had just happened was attracting an unhealthy amount of eyes. She finally pulled herself to her feet, following Slick into the ship, her eyes wide with terror and she was silently screaming in anguish. She quickly shook herself from her stupor, already looking at Slick concernedly,

"Are you ok?" she asked,

"Fine," he replied, already heading into the cockpit, she didn't say anything more, disappearing into her quarters, he heard the lock click behind her and whimpers come from behind the door. He entered the cockpit, "Hey, did you chart-"

"You should have answered me." Dogma whispered,

"Dogma I-"

"Slick you should have answered me!" he shouted, his voice breaking, "I thought you got hurt, or worse! That guy he killed a Jedi! He could of-" he buried his head in his hands. Slick walked over to Dogma, placing his hands on Dogma's head. "You should have answered,"

"I'm sorry Dogma," he whispered, pulling him out of his chair and hugging him tightly.

"I'm mad at you," he mumbled, Slick gave a half-hearted chuckle,

"I know, and I'm sorry," he broke the hug, leaning their foreheads together, "I'm ok, and you're ok. We're together and that's all that matters." Dogma pulled away,

"Thank you for going to get General Windcaster, I know that couldn't have been easy for you,"

"Save it,"

"I'm serious, thank you. You pushed past some stuff to get to helping her, speaking of General Windcaster, where is she?" Dogma said, looking around the room for the young Jedi, noticing Spinner had disappeared. "Is she ok?"

"She's in her quarters. I don't know if she wants to talk to anyone right now." Slick said, flopping down in the copilot's chair.

"We should go check to see if she's ok," Dogma said, making it clear he wasn't suggesting for Slick to come along. He sighed, following Dogma to her quarters, Dogma tried to open the door, but it was still locked. He could hear small choked whimpers coming from inside, Dogma knocked on the door. "General, are you ok?"

"I'm fine," she called, her voice strained into a normal-sounding pitch.

"General, can you open the door please?" he asked, Spinner shoved past him, placing his probe into the port and unlocking the door. Slick scooted out of the young General's eye line, not that she was looking up. She had her head buried in her knees, Dogma entered slowly, talking softly. Slick poked his head around the door watching the scene.

Esinon tugged her knees closer to her chest. That was always something she did when she was trying to provide enough comfort for herself. "General, are you alright?" Esinon shook her head, Dogma sat down next to her, wrapping an arm around her. She finally broke down in sobs,

"I-I almost m-murdered someone, Dogma. I still k-kinda want to." she choked,

"I know," he whispered,

"I don't wanna be a killer, but I snapped." she whimpered, "I just felt like he owed me. I wanted to make him suffer Dogma! It was so dark… I wanted to make him suffer as much as I have. I wanted to kill him, I wanted to take what he took from me." Dogma didn't say anything, just holding her close as she cried. He knew what she felt, it was exactly the type of darkness that had overcome him when he pulled the trigger on Krell. The difference between Dogma and Esinon was that one of them succeeded.

**Cad Bane's Ship, Hyperspace…**

Obi-Wan wiped at his eyes again, what had he done? Right then he knew this was a mistake, cutting off his bond with Esinon, leaving her out on her own? What was she even doing on that level of Coruscant, and with a clone? What was happening? Every time he closed his eyes all he could see was the raging face of his padawan, she had been prepared to kill him if that clone hadn't been there. A few more tears dripped out of his eyes, he knew this was a mistake from the very beginning.

"Esinon, I'm so sorry," he whispered,

* * *

**Alright, alright, alright, starting up the next mini-arc in the larger deception arc. **

**Anyways, yall remember Slick? That traitor, 'member him? Yeah, told you he and his squad would come around. **

**Alright, next up on lets make this canon corner: not related to the chapter but Xavier can throw his voice, and can impersonate anyone he hears**

**thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	39. Guilt and Secrets pt 2

**A few hours later…**

"Can I go one kriffing mission without getting injured? Is that too much to ask?" Esinon grumbled, as she haphazardly grabbed a bacta bandage from the cabinet in the small medbay on the ship. She was struggled to hold her sleeve up, and rip open the bandage,

"Do you want some help?" Slick asked, leaning against the medbay door, staring at her now cauterized shot wound.

"If you're offering," she said, handing over the bacta bandage package to him.

"That's kind of implied," he replied, "I spent a lot of time with Drummer, helping him in the medbay, technically I wasn't a medic though."

"You were with the 212th?" she asked, he nodded, rubbing an anesthetic over her wound.

"For a time, yeah, I was transferred just as my former General was leaving Christophsis."

"The 212th is my legion," she said proudly, but with a hint of sadness. Slick looked up at her in surprise,

"I thought that was Kenobi, what happened to him?" She fell quiet for a moment as he gently placed the bandage over her wound.

"He's dead," she whispered, she didn't know if Slick cared whether Obi-Wan was dead, but he gave her a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry, I know what it's like to lose," he said quietly, he finished in silence and left in a hurry. Was that Slick opening up to her?

"What have I got myself into now Qui-Gon?" she muttered,

"_That's your own problem my little runner." _

"That was a rhetorical question."

**That night…**

Esinon rolled over again, trying to get comfortable on her sore shoulder. She glanced at Dogma's sleeping form, the clone had most of his face smushed into his pillow. She shifted her gaze to Slick's bed to find it's occupant missing. She couldn't sleep anyway, so she decided to go look for him. She was still a little annoyed about when he most likely snooped through her drawer. She knew clones in the GAR didn't have a ton of privacy because of barracks and stuff, but they knew about the concept.

She really was trying to be patient with Slick, but he hated her, and only for being a Jedi? She hated it when she was singled out for being a Jedi. Civilians did it all the time, forgot she was a person too. After a bit of walking, she found Slick in the rec room. He was staring at the holos that covered the left wall, one in particular of her and Foxtrot group.

"I like that one," she said, leaning against the doorway, "It's one of my favorites." Slick didn't answer, "Are you ok?"

"Fine," he snapped, she held up her hands in a placating gesture.

"Sorry, just wanted to make sure you were ok. Can't sleep because of a nightmare, or still acclimating to ship life?"

"And why do you suddenly care?" he shot back,

"I just wanted to thank you, for earlier."

"Just because I did something nice for you doesn't change who you are."

"And who am I?" she asked curiously,

"You're a slaver," he growled, her heart twisted, "What's the matter? Has no one ever told you? Never thought about it for too long. You and your precious Jedi Order created me and my brothers to be used, abused, and then to die, in the name of peace. You know for a cult that claims to stand for peace, justice, and selflessness, a lot of people's deaths lie on your hands. And me and my brothers never got a say."

"I didn't ask to be shoved onto the front lines Slick." Esinon finally snapped, she had tried to be patient, she had tried to be kind, she had tried to be understanding but this was too much. "I'm only doing my duty to the Republic. I wish things were different, I really do, but there isn't anything I can do to change that. This is the Republic's war, not the Jedi."

"The Republic's war?" he asked, finally turning to face her. "Then tell me why my brothers call you General, tell me why half of the military officers are Jedi, how does that make it the Republic's war?" Esinon didn't answer, "Got nothing? It's because you know I'm right, you're a soldier, not a peacekeeper, and you're a slaver, denying every ideal that your bouncy little heart holds dear. It's my brothers blindly following your orders that get them killed."

"Look Slick, people die in war, it's a fact of life. One that took me far too long to understand, and I don't know if I'll ever accept that." Her eyes drifted to Foxtrot, to Waxer, to Echo on the holos that covered the walls. "It's terrible, and I hate it, but I didn't betray them like you did. Your squad was scarred after what you did. They were terrified of me."

"What do you mean were?" he snapped,

"All of them are dead except for Gus. He's the sole survivor," she replied, her gut-twisting, they had all died when she sent Waxer's platoon to fight elsewhere. They suffered a fate worse than death, they died at the hands of their brothers. And they didn't even know.

"And who's fault is that-"

"You don't have to say that it's mine. I know it's mine," she whispered, finally breaking eye contact and focusing on her bare feet. "I already feel guilty enough, so berate me all you want." Slick paused for a moment, the Jedi was ready to take a verbal beating from him in silence.

"I did what I had to do to my squad, they were blind following your orders." Esinon blinked a couple times, "You think that all these men care about you?" he motioned to the holos. He was too angry to care about this stupid Jedi's feelings. She was the one who kept his brothers enslaved. "Sure they may have shared a water canteen with you on a break, but you think that means friendship? They only took those holos with you because you ordered them to. Deep down they know that you're the reason they have no future. I've never met a brother who thought they would live past this war. You're a slaver guarding their cell. And if they ever could get rid of you, they would." he snarled, shoving past a now broken Esinon back to their bunks.

Esinon let out a shuddered breath as she sank to her knees, maybe it was because she was tired, or injured, or maybe it was because all of the words that Slick had just used cut deeper than any lightsaber or knife ever could. She pulled herself to her feet and sat down in a beanbag chair curling up. There had been so many nights she lay awake wondering if what she had with the clones was real. If they were really her friends, or if they faked comradery just because she was their commanding officer.

"No, no," she whispered, trying to hold back tears. When Rex comforted her on Saleucami, that was real, every time that Fives had joked around with her, or wiped away her tears, or grounded her, that was real. Everything she had with the clones was real, she knew it had to be. She would have sensed it if it wasn't. Slick was just trying to cut her down, that's all. She was really tempted to call Cody or Fives, but she knew they would both be asleep all the way over on Coruscant. She wished she had someone to talk to at the-

"Little runner, are you alright?" she looked up to see Qui-Gon standing in the doorway.

"I…" she started, before feeling her throat close up with tears. "It's real? Right? I'm not just an idiot who's so desperate for friends that I couldn't see that they hated me all along?" Qui-Gon knelt down in front of her,

"You know the difference between love and lie," he whispered,

"But what if I don't," she mumbled, tears starting to stream down her face. "I want things to go back to normal," she whimpered, Qui-Gon swept the young girl into his arms. Esinon buried her head in his shoulder, sobbing. "I want Obi-Wan to come back! I don't want to be a General anymore,"

"Shh," Qui-Gon whispered, "It's alright little runner,"

"It's so hard," she whimpered, clutching the elder Jedi's robes tighter.

"I know, it'll get easier. I promise, just keep holding on."

"I miss him," she whispered, her throat still choked with tears.

"I know," Qui-Gon said, holding her tighter. "I know it's hard, it will heal. You have to trust the process and in the force."

"I trust in the force," she whispered, starting to calm down. "I trust you,"

**The next morning… **

"Gosh darn it," Slick grumbled, fiddling with buttons on the microwave, trying to heat up breakfast, "Why won't this thing work?" Esinon came into the rec room, half asleep, her eyes puffy. She didn't look very Jedi-like, she glanced from him to the microwave. Without a word, she waved her hand, the microwave clunked before springing to life. Slick didn't thank her as she shuffled past and reached for the tea in the cupboard. She had to stand on her tiptoes, her whole body outstretched, just to reach the desired item. Her fingers brushed it the box before it came tumbling out,

"Sorry," she mumbled, it was nasally and hoarse, like she had been crying for a long time. Not that Slick cared.

"You got nothin' to be sorry for," he replied, taking his breakfast out of the microwave.

"That's not what you thought last night but ok," she said, busying herself at the stove.

"Oh what? Never been exposed to the truth?" he snapped, she glanced up at him, her face placid neutral with exhaustion.

"The truth of how you're just like every citizen who blames me and the Jedi for everything? That's not new," she replied, scrubbing her face with her hands.

"Cept unlike every citizen, I've been personally hurt by Jedi." Slick snapped, she finally slammed her fist down on the counter.

"What do you want me to do about it? Huh?" she glared at him, "You weren't hurt by me Jedi, and I understand wanting to take your anger out on somebody. You saw what I did last night," She sucked in a harsh breath, "But I am not all-powerful, and as much as I would like to fix it, I can't. Just like I can't fix anything in this kriffing galaxy. What is the point of having all these powers if I can never do anything!" she shouted, electricity sparking around her clenched fists. The emotion, grief, and pain were written all over her face, and were laced in her voice. She sucked in a harsh breath before leaving the room, abandoning her cup of tea on the counter.

"Morning General," Dogma said, she barely spared him a glance as she headed towards their quarters. Except the glance was enough for Dogma to know something was wrong. "General?" he poked his head around the door watching the young girl walk away. "Is she ok?"

"Why would I care?" Slick grouched, Dogma sighed,

"Slick," he said with an exasperated look on his face.

"What? You want me to start caring for that di'kut of a Jedi like you have. Well, I've got news for you, it's not gonna happen."

"Well you could at least stop making her miserable," Dogma said, "She's been through a lot."

"Why do you care?" Slick snapped, Dogma ran a hand down his face.

"Slick, she's only a kid."

"A kid who's getting all that Jedi crap force-fed down her-" Slick paused, the gears in his brain turning. She'd been force-fed beliefs… just like he had. He shook himself from those thoughts. No. NO. He was not going to sympathize with that Jedi scum. That Jedi scum who had looked at him with sheer terror when he threatened her. The Jedi scum who seemed so unsure of herself all of the time, but mostly the Jedi scum who was a sad soul but was simply trying to cover it all up with a smile.

"Slick, come and say you're sorry," Dogma said, crossing his arms over his chest. Slick glared at him,

"She's a Jedi, she's fine," he protested, turning back to his breakfast. Dogma sighed and turned to find his General. He shook his head,

"If only he could look a little deeper," Dogma muttered, he entered their quarters slowly, finding Esinon curled up on her bed, her back facing him. "General, are you alright?"

"'M fine," she mumbled, "Just tired. That's all. Did you sleep alright?" she asked, not turning to face him. Dogma sat down in front of her bed,

"It's ok if you're not ok," he said, trying to ease her mind. She didn't answer, just tugged the cloak around herself tighter. "And I'll admit that for parts of this trip I haven't been ok," She glanced at him, anxiously searching for a way she could fix the problem. She then realized that there was nothing she could do, and Dogma wasn't offering that information up to her because he wanted her to fix it. He was simply trying to offer up empathy.

"When's it gonna end?" she whispered, Dogma glanced at her, he didn't know if she meant the trip or- "The war, when is it going to end? I'm so tired," she whimpered, curling further in on herself, "And I have eight weeks before I have to go back to the front lines and I don't know if I can do it. Without Obi-Wan, it feels like I have nothing to return to."

"But- but what about Fives or Captain Rex? Or Commander Tano and General Skywalker? Or any of the 212th, they need you."

"If I'm gone maybe they won't die." she whispered, "That's what happens when I'm around, good people who don't deserve to die do. Waxer, your squad, almost all of Theta, even Slick's squad! Foxtrot… Obi-Wan. Everything I touch goes up in smoke, Slick is right about me. All I ever do is hurt people."

"That is not true," Dogma said, Esinon didn't answer, she let out a shuddered breath.

"I can't go back to the front lines," she whimpered, "I just can't do it. I can't watch any more people I love die," Dogma pulled his knees up to his chest, he didn't know what to say. Esinon's world was coming crashing down around her, the grief was suffocating.

"None of this war is your fault General, Umbara wasn't your fault, all those deaths you just talked about, are not your fault. This war is an example of people failing to listen, thinking with a weapon before their words, and I know you want to quit. But people need you, and it's really hard right now, but it gets easier, I promise." Esinon finally sat up,

"Thanks, Dogma," she said, "When did you get so good at pep talks?"

"I learned from the best, but can I talk to both you and Slick?" She nodded, Dogma went and found Slick and came back, sitting him down on the bed right next to Esinon. The young girl and the clone scooted away from one another,

"Dogma, what are you doing?" Slick grumbled,

"You both have been at one another's throats since the day you met. Now whether you like it or not, we're in this together, so that means no more going through one another's stuff." Dogma shot Slick a look, "And we try to keep away from secrets when we can. We should have fun, and I know you both have a lot of differences, but you both like me and that's a start. We're in this together." Esinon glanced at Slick,

"I'm sorry for yelling at you," she said, shuffling her feet.

"Well it was provoked," Slick wasn't at the point to apologize yet, he had a lot of Jedi stuff to work through. He wasn't sorry for anything last night because he was right about the Jedi, but Esinon was only a padawan. She didn't know any better because it was all she had ever been taught. The way Slick saw it was he had two months to get Esinon to leave the Jedi behind.

"So we're all in agreement, we're in this together?" Dogma asked, the two of them nodded,

"Together," Esinon said,

"Together," Slick agreed,

**One week later…**

"SLICK!" Dogma groaned hearing Esinon yell again, those two had been arguing non-stop for their last week in hyperspace. They had stopped only once, and that was to get food, but until he and Slick decided where they wanted to go, they were spending most of their time trapped on the ship. Sure they had been trying to get along, and they had their moments but, it was still a struggle.

"What!" Slick yelled back,

"You have to pick up your clothes!" She shouted, Dogma tried to refocus his attention back to the rows and rows of holos Esinon had displayed on the wall. There was even a projector off in the corner, with videos you could scroll through.

"I don't _have _to do anything!"

"This is a shared space! This isn't just your room! So quit leaving your clothes strewn everywhere!" she shouted angrily, he heard a loud SMACK of a laundry basket hitting the floor.

"I'll quit throwing my clothes everywhere when you quit hogging the bathroom!"

"I'M A GIRL! I HAVE MORE HAIR THAN YOU!" she shouted,

"THAT'S NO EXCUSE!"

"IT IS NOW!" Dogma walked over shutting the door to the rec room, just before he did Spinner skirted inside. The shut door muffled the arguing pair enough for Dogma to hear himself think.

"You having a hard time thinking too?" he asked, collapsing into a bean bag that was next to a basket full of datapads. Spinner beeped a yes, "And it's gonna stay like this until we find somewhere to stretch our legs, thing is, I've never been asked where I wanted to go. Does General Windcaster have a list of planets she wants to visit?" Spinner shook his head, letting out a low whistle. "Can you pull up a map of the surrounding systems in our area?" Spinner pulled up a holo map, Dogma studied it for a minute, eyes flicking between planets until he landed on one. "Naboo. That's where I want to go. Naboo."

**One day later…**

"So where exactly are we?" Slick asked, tossing his duffle bag on the floor of the cottage.

"The lake country outside of Theed," Esinon replied, "Senator Amidala set me up with this cottage,"

"And does she know about us?" he asked, she sighed,

"Not exactly, no. Anakin might go stir crazy to know I'm carting myself around the galaxy with 'criminals.'" she said, putting air quotes around criminals.

"General Skywalker is protective," Dogma muttered, looking around the cottage.

"You have noooo idea," she muttered, "Speaking of General Skywalker, I've got to call him, your guys' room is that way." She pointed in the opposite direction that she was heading in. "Holler if you need anything."

"Yes General," Dogma replied, as she disappeared into her room and closed the door behind her. The two of them headed down to their cosey room, and stowed their few belongings. "So what do we do now?"

"Anything we want Dogma, that's the best part of freedom. If you want to swim, or climb trees, or just sit here for the next four hours, whatever makes you happy, you can do it." Slick replied, stretching out on his bed.

"I'm not used to making all these decisions," he muttered,

"Feels good doesn't it,"

"It's stressful,"

"Well I can't make it for you, that's not part of freedom."

"Can you just this once?" he asked, Slick sighed,

"Nope, I can give you suggestions though,"

"Alright, what've you got?" Dogma asked hopefully, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Well we're in the lake country, so you could swim, or go out on a boat. There's a kitchen, so you could try your hand at cooking. There's a forest out back, you could go for a hike." Dogma mulled over his options,

"I think I want to go swimming, do you wanna come?" he asked, getting up from his bed.

"I'll come and sit, I've never really liked the water," he said, following Dogma out.

**A few hours later…**

Esinon strolled out of the cottage, leaning against the doorway, taking a deep breath of the fresh Nubian air. She watched Dogma run off the dock for the millionth time and jump into the water, a carefree smile on his face. She had never seen Dogma like this, so happy. Slick was napping underneath a tree not far from the water's edge, both of them seemed more relaxed upon being here. Even Slick had let up on his relentless glaring and arguing with her, things were more loose and carefree out here.

"General!" Dogma yelled, waving at her, she waved back, sprinting down the hill and jumping into the water, splashing Dogma.

"So you guys likin' it out here?" she asked, wiping water off of her face as Dogma splashed her again.

"Yeah, I read about this place back on Kamino. It was the one place I've always wanted to go."

"So why didn't you say so a week ago?" Slick asked, stretching after waking up from his nap.

"Because I blanked a week ago," Dogma shot back,

"Master Fisto and Nadar used to take me swimming all the time when I was younger," Esinon said, floating in the water on her back. "Guess that's what comes with being trained partially by water species."

"Are you sure you don't want to come in Slick?" Dogma asked, flicking water at his brother. Slick shook his head,

"Again, I don't like the water," he replied, slumping back down against the tree and going back to sleep.

* * *

"What are we doing out here?" Slick asked, shivering in the cold Kamino air, as rain pounded against the thin durasteel roof above them.

"Training exercise," his squadmate, Burn smirked, Slick peered over the landing platform's edge at the turbulent water below. Before he could even blink, he was falling, falling towards the water. "Nice moves Slick!" Burn yelled as he hit the water below.

* * *

Esinon pushed the button to the old workshop that sat next to the cottage, she was hoping to find something to work on, and some space from Slick. They needed space for one another, yes they had begun to agree on some things, but there had been a lot of pointless arguing. They had both made a mutual, silent agreement that they were doing this for Dogma. The door slid open to a dingy workspace, it looked like no one had been here in years. There were old droid parts around the room, and a broken down speeder, hanging from hooks on the ceiling. She grinned at the new workspace,

"Well Spinner, it's not the prettiest to look at," she said,

'_But it is Slick free,'_

"Finally, some peace and quiet, I should probably call Fives though…"

'_It can wait, I'll remind you in an hour or so,' _

"Thanks, Spinner," She said, flicking on the lights and starting to clean everything up. She'd been out there for a couple hours possibly, mostly cleaning, she'd finally taken inventory of everything and had decided to rebuild an old astromech for Slick and Dogma when they got to where they were going. Spinner wouldn't be there to help Dogma land their ship. At this point she had a fair amount of dust and grease all over her face, luckily she'd had coveralls in the ship. Not that she was wearing the top half, it was considerably warmer on Naboo than Coruscant. She was wearing a black tank top instead with the coveralls top tied around her waist. She had goggles perched on top of her head, sweaty and greasy pieces of hair drooping in her face. She had loud music blasting as she continued to work, getting lost in her own world.

"General?" Dogma asked, poking his head into the workshop. She removed her goggles, turning her music down with the force,

"Hey Dogma," she greeted with a wide grin, "How are you?"

"I'm good, I brought you a sandwich in case you were hungry," he said holding out the plate, she glanced at her Chrono, it was lunch already, she'd only just called Fives.

"Huh, I must have lost track of time." she said, gratefully taking the plate from him. "How has your day been?"

"Alright, Slick has been off doing his own thing all day… so I guess I'm a little bored." Dogma said, "We always had something to do on the cruiser," Esinon nodded, her mouth full.

"Yeah, I was a mess my first week on Mandalore. Constantly pacing the hallways, or seeing if there was something I could fix for Satine. Korkie couldn't get me to sit still for four seconds, even on crutches." Dogma glanced up at her, taking a seat on an old stool.

"I don't think I'm as good at freedom as Slick," he replied,

"Well you can't blame yourself, the only thing you've ever been taught is how to be a soldier. They- I didn't exactly train you for any of this," she said, motioning around the workshop, and the planet outside. Dogma nodded, resting his elbows on his knees. "And it'll get easier as time goes on. It took me about a week to get readjusted to life outside of war."

"Are you still going back after your leave?" he asked slowly, she sighed, focusing herself back on her work. She eventually nodded,

"Yeah, just a lot of… trauma to work through from Umbara." she said, "I knew Krell when I was little. This war has corrupted the Jedi. We're lost, but there's not a lot I can do about it." she explained, her wrench stilling on her bolt. "Darkness and power, it corrupts. It was a real wake up call for me to remember that could be me if I'm not careful."

"Sir, I doubt you could ever be as cruel as Krell was, even if you wanted to." Dogma said, she smiled softly,

"Yeah, that's what everyone keeps telling me." She replied, thinking about the electricity that could spark from her hands. Lightning, like Count Dooku, like any Sith, that power could overtake her if she wasn't careful. "So have you seen Slick much today?"

"He went on a hike a few hours ago, so I haven't seen him other than this morning."

"Mmm, at least he's enjoying himself," she said, pulling her goggles back down. "Has he suggested a place he wants to go if you guys don't put down roots here?"

"Not that he's mentioned, but he's been asking about you. Where you come from, stuff like that." Esinon raised an eyebrow, that was strange,

"Did he have a specific reason?" she asked, Dogma shook his head.

"I told him if he wanted to know more about you he could ask you himself." She hummed in response, "Whether he asks or not, I dunno." Esinon shrugged,

"All in due time I guess." Dogma nodded in agreement,

* * *

Esinon absently minded glanced down at her Chrono and gasped when she did. It was almost seven, and she had completely forgotten to make dinner! She was about to head back inside to apologize and try to figure something out for dinner when Slick poked his head out of the cottage,

"Hey, you hungry? I made pizza," he said, Esinon paused,

"You made?" Slick nodded,

"Shoes off before you come inside, and go wash your hands. And your face. You know what, go take a shower. I'll save you some food." he said, Esinon cocked an eyebrow. Slick was being… nice to her? And he cooked?

She pulled off her boots, waving to Dogma as she headed towards the fresher. Her shower didn't take long and she had changed into a tunic and leggings. She found food waiting for her on the counter while Slick and Dogma watched a movie. It was these mundanities of life she wasn't used to, just living… normal life.

Sometimes she wished she would leave the order, have a normal life, but there wasn't anything waiting for her outside the order. Well, there was Korkie, but she knew she could never leave. Something was tethering her to the order, it was all she had ever known. She couldn't leave. She had too much power, too much duty, too much responsibility to leave.

Even if she was just a temple guard in the order, she could never leave. She didn't do well with change, and that decision would change her whole life. She could never do it. She could never leave, she didn't have the strength.

**The next morning…**

Esinon was used to being busy all of the time, there were thousands of tasks she had to complete in a day of being a General. Now Slick had taken over the kitchen, at least he had found a hobby. He said he used to watch cooking videos in between missions.

Dogma was still trying to figure out what his knack was, but Esinon needed to train. After recovering fully from her injury, she was ready to beat something or someone up.

She had pushed the training droids from the ship out into an open grassy patch in front of their cottage early that morning. As the sun rose, the number of layers Esinon was wearing had decreased, she had stripped down to her sports bra and leggings as she fiercely trained outside, her fresh scars on her abdomen and side were out for all to see.

"Where'd she get all those scars?" Slick wondered aloud, watching her decimate her fifth training droid. Dogma glanced up from the puzzle he was working on, listening to the loud crash that followed outside.

"A falling out on Umbara," Dogma said, he remembered Rex telling him what was going on. "She ignored injury and… the war in general I guess."

"She's too little to have scars like that," Slick murmured, knowing he had scars of a similar nature. Slick knew Esinon was young, he just didn't know how young. He assumed they wouldn't make someone a General if they were under twenty, he was wrong. He was very, very, wrong.

**That night…**

"He tuckered himself out," Slick murmured, looking at Dogma who was curled up against a rock around the fire they had made, fast asleep.

"Yeah, Esinon chuckled, stretching out and resting her head against a rock. She looked up at the starry sky, you couldn't often see the stars on Coruscant, now that she could see them it felt like home. When she would stare up at the sky, perched in a tree, listening to the nightlife of Endor awaken. "Reminds me of home,"

"I thought Scipio was covered in snow," he remarked,

"It is, I've always thought of Endor more as home than Scipio. I've only been to Scipio twice," The second time she had gone to Scipio was shortly after her mother's funeral, her father wanted her to meet the rest of her family.

"You grew up on Endor?"

"Mmhmm, been climbin' trees since before I could walk," she muttered,

"So you grew up among, what? The Ewoks?" he chuckled,

"You guessed it,"

"Do you miss them?"

"Not really, no. I miss Endor more than the lifeforms there," she replied sleepily,

"Must suck not really knowing where you come from since the Jedi took you against your parents' will," Slick muttered,

"Trust me, it wasn't against my parents' will. My parents didn't want me. The day before Master Windu showed up, my parents didn't let me sleep in our hut, or eat. Had life continued like that for me, I wouldn't be here." she sighed, rubbing her eyes as she started to succumb to sleep. "The Jedi have done some questionable things as the war has gone on, but they saved me." Slick glanced over at the now sleeping Jedi padawan, maybe this Jedi wasn't so bad… Slick stood up, heading down towards the docks. Dogma mumbled slightly in his sleep, rolling over,

"Don't worry vod'ika, I'll be back," he promised, before walking away.

* * *

"Would the prisoners request to be blindfolded?" Dogma heard his voice ask, he flicked his eyes over to see Fives and Jesse lined up as a puppet of him being controlled by Krell walked in front of the firing squad. Fives and Jesse didn't respond. "I will take that, as a no."

"No, no! Don't listen to him!" Dogma shrieked, a pair of white hands emerged from the wall, grabbing him from behind covering his mouth. "DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!" A lightsaber flew out of nowhere slashing each and every trooper present. They all quickly rose to their feet, eyes glazed and bodies staggering towards him.

"Good soldiers follow orders,"

"Good soldiers follow orders,"

"Good soldiers follow orders," they chanted,

"No, no, no!"

* * *

"Dogma, Dogma! Wake up!" Esinon whisper-shouted, shaking the trembling trooper, Dogma shot up awake, panting. He whipped his head around, looking for signs of danger, "Hey, it's ok, you're safe," she soothed,

"Where's Slick?" he asked, looking around for his brother. Esinon looked around for the trooper,

"I don't know, he was gone when I woke up." they heard sloshing coming down from the docks as a figure pulled themselves out of the water.

"Is that him?" Dogma whispered, "Is he ok?" Esinon reached out to Slick through the force, sensing he was alright, he was just upset as he collapsed onto the docks.

"He's fine, I think it's best if we leave him alone." she said, "Come on, he'll come inside when he's ready." She dumped a bucket of sand on the fire extinguishing it, Dogma followed her inside. "If he doesn't come in soon, we can go looking for him if you want."

"No, it's probably best to leave him alone," Dogma replied, sitting down on the couch, she sat next to him, sitting cross-legged. "It shouldn't surprise me that he likes to wander, he used to pace a lot." He sighed, placing his elbows on his knees, "He's enjoying his freedom."

"And you aren't?" she asked,

"I am, I really am, it's just… there's a lot of decisions to be made, and I'm not used to having to make those," he replied,

"I understand what you mean,"

"You do?"

"Yeah," she replied, with a small smile on her face, which quickly fell. "After Obi-Wan died, a lot of things happened very quickly. I was promoted to General and became Master Fisto's padawan in under twenty-four hours. I was used to having Obi-Wan call all the shots on the battlefield, and suddenly I'm thrust into having to come up with a battle plan, strategize when things don't work out the way I want them, and having troopers constantly asking me questions. It's scary when things change." Dogma nodded,

"Yeah, it is. When you came to get us, my whole life got turned upside down in an instant- not that I'm not grateful. It's hard when things change." he mumbled, Esinon paused thinking,

"I have an idea, come on," she pulled him up off the couch and into the kitchen. "After a really hard battle, Obi-Wan and I would stay up late and bake cookies or muffins for the night crew. It was a way for us to cope," she explained, already pulling up her and Obi-Wan's favorite recipe.

"Sir, I wouldn't want to intrude on you and General Kenobi's tradition," Dogma said, backing out of the kitchen,

"Please," she said softly, her eyes filled with sadness, "I'm not used to doing it alone." Dogma finally nodded and helped her get the ingredients.

**A few hours later…**

Slick walked into the cottage, clutching his clothes and dripping water all over the floor from his late-night swim. He was quickly hit with a towel,

"We gotta keep this place nice," Dogma said, Slick pulled the towel off of his head to see the kitchen was a disaster, with Esinon covered in a lot of flour.

"Yeah, I see you're quite the hypocrite," he replied,

"We're making cookies," Esinon said, mixing dough in a bowl.

"Are you trying to feed the army?" Slick asked, looking at the rows of cookies.

"Fives could eat these alone," she replied, "I could eat these alone."

"At superspeed," Dogma added,

"At superspeed," she replied, flashing a grin. Slick grabbed a cookie from the countertop, taking a bite.

"That does not taste half bad for you never being a kitchen Dogma," he said, sitting on a stool in front of the island.

"I have to been in a kitchen," Dogma shot back, "To help with dish duty." He mumbled, Esinon giggled, dropping her head, a whole ton of flour falling off the top of it.

"That does not count," Slick said, stuffing the rest of the cookie in his mouth.

"It's not my fault! At least they taste good,"

"You should be thankful that I can cook better than Anakin," Esinon said, dumping a bag of berries into the dough. Dogma almost choked on the cookie he was eating,

"General Skywalker can't cook?" he asked, Esinon shook her head,

"Of course he can't, he's not perfect you know."

"General Skywalker just seems so perfect," he mumbled,

"Quit drooling over the Jedi," Slick grumbled, Spinner nudged his leg looking for some sort of attention, Slick conceded and patted the astromech's head. "You're like a dog, you know that?"

"Spinner's my little puppy," Esinon said, the astromech beeped happily, wheeling over to his friend. She rubbed his dome,

"You're strange Jedi," he mumbled,

"I prefer the word unique," she replied, setting out dough on trays.

"You would,"

"That's what happens when you spend all of your days reading while stuck on the _Negotiator,_" she replied,

"And that's when you're not climbing through the vents and wreaking havoc on the cruiser," Dogma replied,

"You climb in the vents?" she nodded,

"I'm getting a little big for it though, I know my way around the vents almost as well as I do around the cruiser."

"I'm glad I never had to deal with a padawan," Slick grumbled,

"Try an entire tornado trio," Dogma said, Esinon laughed,

"I don't think we'll out-grow that even when we're all knighted."

"Probably not, nicknames tend to stick," Slick mumbled, grabbing another cookie, "I'm gonna go to bed,"

"Ok, goodnight Slick," Esinon said, smiling softly,

"Night Jedi, night Dogma," Dogma waved absentmindedly as Slick disappeared around the corner. He sat down on his bed, rubbing his eyes, _Smooth moves Slick!- Nice work Slick,- That's not my name! Quit calling me that!- Well, Slick, until you start acting like a giant failure, that name will stick- You couldn't be a greater disappointment.- _"I'm not a failure,"

* * *

**If you want more Windcaster content I made an art account on instagram at anotherdayof_art**

**Also I know yall were probably tired of Slick being mean to Esinon, he's nicer from now on I promise but also, not every character can instantly like Esinon (although she's very lovable I know)**

**Also thank you guys for over 100 reviews! that's insane! I really didn't expect this story to take off so thank yall for coming back every time**

**Alright, next up on let's make this canon corner: ****Each Ewok tribe has a certain tribal call they can use to signal others. Esinon can still perform her tribe call.**

**Thanks for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	40. Guilt and Secrets pt 3

**TW: PTSD discussion and flashbacks **

* * *

**A few days later…**

"I was thinking since I got to pick where we went last time, it's Slick's turn to pick." Dogma said, entering the cockpit as they sat in orbit of Naboo. Slick grumbled to himself, sinking further into the co-pilot's seat. Esinon chuckled to herself, rubbing Spinner's head.

"So Slick, is there anywhere you've always wanted to go?" Esinon asked, he glanced at her, studying her markings.

"How about Scipio?" he asked,

"What?" she exclaimed,

"You heard me," he replied, folding his arms over his chest.

"You hate me-"

"Hate's a strong word," Dogma mumbled,

"So why in the world would you want to go to my home planet?" she asked, Spinner beeped in affirmation of her question.

"Don't question me kid," Slick grumbled, he'd begun to call her kid, which was better than Jedi. Still, Esinon wondered sometimes if he actually knew her name. She opened her mouth to speak again when Slick interrupted, "You said you've only been a few times, and everyone deserves to know where they come from."

"This is perfect!" Esinon exclaimed, "The festival of life is this week, my family will be on Scipio anyways." Spinner started plugging in the hyperspace coordinates, "Scipio it is," she pushed the lever forward, shooting them into the hyperspace. Slick stood up and left to go find something while Dogma took his place.

"You don't seem that excited to be going home," she sighed, dropping her head,

"Guess I can't get anything past you, huh?" she said, Dogma watched her intently for a moment, "I... I haven't talked to my dad much since Obi-Wan died. He's really angry about the whole General thing, but what were they supposed to do? They didn't have a ton of choice, and the order came directly from the Supreme Chancellor. I can't- couldn't say no, but my dad is still really mad."

"It's hard for people who don't serve to understand the sense of duty that we have." Dogma said, "And if you want to go to Scipio, but not visit your family, I'm sure that we can find somewhere else to stay." Esinon shook her head,

"I still want to see them, I haven't seen Thea in almost two years. She lives on Scipio permanently now." Esinon explained, "Besides, the festival is all about family, best to spend it with my family."

**The next day…**

"Ok, couple things. My Nana is super traditional, so- I'll explain all of that before dinner," Esinon began as they trekked through the snow up towards an extremely large house. "Second, I have a lot of families and they're all in town for the next month, at least. Third, my Nana doesn't speak a ton of basic, it's mostly one or two-word sentences. Fourth, it's the festival of life for the next month, that's why all of my family is here. That's more of a note, just for something we can do. Got all that?" she asked, turning around to face them as they landed at the porch of the mansion. Slick hadn't really been paying attention to what she had been saying, instead, he was wondering, how rich was Esinon's dad? Because holy kriff, this place was huge.

"Got it… I think. I'll figure it out, General." Dogma replied,

"They're gonna love you guys, I've got a good feeling about this," she said, jumping up and down a couple of times trying to psych herself up.

"_You need to calm down," _Spinner beeped, Esinon took a deep breath,

"It's just been a while since I've seen my family," she replied, keeping her voice soft and Slick and Dogma murmured to each other behind her. "_It's family, hurry up, I'm cold," _he grumbled,

"Fine," She said,

"Good, cuz I'm freezin'" Slick replied, tugging his coat around him tighter. She giggled, shaking her head, she finally knocked on the door and it was rapidly answered by her father.

"Peanut!" he exclaimed, burying his daughter in a bone-crushing hug.

"Esi!" Thea screamed, running as fast as her little legs would carry her to hug Esinon's leg.

"How are you? Are you ok?" He asked looking her over for injury, she gripped her father's shoulders.

"I'm fine Dad, I promise," she said, scooping Thea up into her arms. The young girl reached out a hand towards Slick.

"Five," she said, scrunching her fists.

"No Thea, that's Slick," Esinon explained,

"Sick!" She shouted, reaching both hands out towards Slick, Esinon passed Thea over to a very surprised Slick as the small child in his arms latched both hands onto his nose.

"Try to keep her hands out of your hair, she'll pull," Esinon said, entering the house, with the two troopers on her tail. Soon her Nana came around the corner, looking her over,

"You too skinny." she said, wapping a bony hand at Esinon's abdomen, "You need to eat more. I make you food."

"No, Nana!" she called after the old woman, "I have a- speedster figure," she muttered to herself, she heard Slick yelp, she turned to see him prying Thea's hands out of his hair. "I warned you," she giggled, Slick rolled his eyes, attempting to pass Esinon's little sister to Dogma. This didn't fare well with Thea, she grasped onto Slick's collar tightly, refusing to let go. Slick finally conceded, keeping a close eye on her hands.

"And there is my way cooler than me cousin," Elliot remarked, coming around the corner. The dirty-blond, blue-eyed twenty-year-old stared at her happily

"Hey Elliot," she said, pulling her elder cousin into a hug.

"I was the coolest thing that the littles had seen until their Jedi cousin showed up." he joked, wrapping a lazy arm around her shoulders, staring at the two clones in front of them. "Who's this?"

"Meet Dogma, and Slick, guys, this is my cousin Elliot."

"The kid in the holo, yeah," Slick said, pushing Thea's hands away from his head.

"It's really nice to meet you, I've heard great things." Dogma said, shaking Elliot's hand.

"Only the good stuff I hope," he muttered, Esinon slugged him in the shoulder playfully.

"Nope, all of the bad stuff. They're terrified of the zombie that gets out of bed every morning." she joked, "Where's Aunt Anna?"

"Living room with everyone else,"

"Well Dogma and Slick, are you guys ready to meet everybody?" They both nodded, following her into the living room. Both of their jaws dropped,

"Kid, when you said you had a lot of family…" Slick muttered, staring at the room full of blonde, brunette, and a mix of the two family members.

"And that's not even the half of it," Elliot muttered, taking a sip out of the glass he was holding.

"Let me guess, Uncle Gil is late again," she said, smiling to herself.

"Bingo," After a very long time of Esinon introducing her family members to Slick and Dogma, they finally made their way to the tiny room in the back of the house. There were three beds, and enough room for all of them to move around, everyone in the house was crammed in the lack of space for her enormous family. Esinon gave a contented sigh, flopping onto her bed with a big stupid grin on her face. This was nice, and she was incredibly excited to be here for the festival of life. She had only dreamed of going, after reading all the holo books over and over again. "This... this is amazing. Thank you Slick,"

"You're welcome kid," he replied, ruffling her hair,

"Hate to ruin the moment guys, but General, you said something about your Nana being traditional and you would explain later…" Dogma said,

"Right," Esinon said, sitting up, "So on Scipio, everything is rooted in tradition, kinda like the Mandalorians. Family time is the most important time, so for dinner we have to be dressed up."

"How dressed up is dressed up…" Slick asked,

"Just, nice tunic and pants is fine."

"Peanut! Uncle Gil is here!" Her dad called from the other side of the door,

"I gotta go say hi, most of my family hasn't seen me for a year. You guys stay here, and try to figure out what to wear," she said, getting off her bed and walking out the door.

* * *

"How often does the kid get to see her family?" Slick asked after Esinon had been gone for a while. Dogma shrugged his shoulders, rifling through a few different shirt options.

"I've heard her talk about her family a couple times, outside of Senator Windcaster, I don't think she gets to see them very often," he replied,

"And do you know how she feels about that?" he asked,

"No, but you can ask her." Dogma replied, throwing a shirt at Slick's head. Slick frowned, Dogma was making his mission of trying to get Esinon to leave the order way harder than it needed to be.

**That night…**

"So what is this festival about?" Dogma asked, Slick had separated off from the group to go explore on his own for a little bit. Esinon shifted her eyes among the crowd of people that had crowded the streets of Scipio for the festival.

"What? Uncle Gil hasn't regaled you with my extensive Scipian history?" she joked, "But, thousands of years ago humans started to migrate to Scipio. For a while everything was peaceful until the Muuns decided they didn't want humans on Scipio anymore. They lashed out killing us by the thousands, trying to exterminate all of us. We were forced up into the ivory mountains." she motioned to the mountain range in the distance, "You'll hear more about them in a couple days. Uncle Gil doesn't let us dog sled race until he's finished a grand tale about the mountains."

"Is that what that barn is for?"

"Yeah, I can show you the dogs tonight, if you want," she said, thinking about her dog Bosco.

"Anyways, families got separated from one another in the snow. We evolved to have the yellow markings to be more visible." Now that Dogma scanned the crowd, it seemed the yellow markings almost glowed in the dark. They stood out against the snowy landscape of Scipio. A firework went off and Esinon flinched, it sounded too much like the rages of battle. She quickly shook herself from her stupor, waving to a couple family members as she passed. She scanned rows of street vendors, at first she had been worried that someone would recognize her, but so far no one had. She wasn't a threat, she'd left her lightsaber at home anyways.

A shot went through the crowd, no- no Fireworks. It was only fireworks. People had stopped to watch the spectacle as more sparkles thundered in the sky.

'_I'm safe,' _she mentally reminded herself, but she had started walking a little closer to Dogma. Another firework sung into the sky, exploding casting brilliant light over the festival. For a moment Esinon saw Krell's image flicker, she shook her head. '_It's not real, it's not real, it's not real,' _A firework cracked again the familiar landscape of Scipio disappeared and Umbara replaced it. The people who had been milling about the festival had transformed into soldiers. Her breathing quickened as she searched the crowd for Dogma,

"General, are you alright?" the voice, it was far away. She whipped around, someone grabbed her arm. She panicked and phased through whoever's grip was around her arm. "General, what's wrong?" The voice asked, sounding a little more panicked. Esinon looked forward to seeing Krell stalking towards her, lightsaber drawn. She reached for her lightsaber, but it wasn't there. She panicked and did the only logical thing to her at the moment which was to bolt. She ran as fast as she could, running to the last safe place she could think of. Her and Obi-Wan's ship. She skidded to a halt, crumpling onto the cool metal floor.

"What's happening to me?" she whispered, tears welling in her eyes.

* * *

"Slick! Slick!" Dogma shouted, weaving through the crowd. Esinon had bolted and he had no idea why, or where she was. Slick tore his gaze from the spectacle of fireworks in the sky to his frantic brother. Slick made his way over to Dogma,

"Dogma, what's wrong?" Slick asked,

"General Windcaster, she bolted, I don't know where she went." Dogma panted,

"What happened before she bolted?"

"Uh… we were walking around, and then the fireworks started, she started to get a little antsy and then she bolted." Slick knew what had caused the young Jedi to bolt, the fireworks. They reminded her too much of battle, she must have been having a flashback. Slick started to pace,

"Ok, ok, she would go to a safe place. Where's the one place on Scipio she would feel safest?" Slick asked, the two clones glanced at one another.

"The ship," they both said in unison,

* * *

Esinon's flashback had only gotten worse in the time that it took Dogma and Slick to find a speeder and get back to their ship. She was sitting against the wall, trembling with sobs, only able to listen to the screaming of her brothers as they were slaughtered mercilessly. Slick jumped off the speeder, heading inside the ship. He had for now disregarded the fact that Esinon was a Jedi. The only thing he was concerned about right now was that there was a soldier on this ship that was probably experiencing a flashback for the first time.

"Dogma, stay here," he instructed.

"But-" Dogma said, Slick shot him a look,

"Dogma," Slick said firmly, "Stay here." Dogma finally conceded, sitting back down on the speeder. Slick darted inside the ship, where Esinon was sitting up against the wall knees drawn to her chest, whimpering. Slick sat down at a safe distance from her. "Kid, can you hear me? It's Slick, you're in our ship." Another firework cracked outside and Esinon flinched, her muscles clenching up.

"I'm sorry Rex," she whimpered,

"Esinon," Slick said, trying to pull her out of whatever hellish nightmare she was living in. "It's Slick, you know the big jerk who doesn't like you very much." Esinon whimpered again, looking like she wanted to move but was immobilized with fear. He cringed, that probably wasn't helping.

'_Focus Slick!' _he mentally shouted at himself, "Esinon, you're having a flashback."

"W-what?" she whimpered,

"It's something that soldiers have to deal with," Slick said, trying to explain PTSD while it was happening.

"I don't understand," another firework crackled merrily outside. Esinon flinched even more violently,

"Ok, you're in our ship, my name is Slick, your name is Esinon. You're safe," she looked up at him, her breathing starting to slow as she studied his face. Slick couldn't help but feel bad for Esinon, flashbacks were terrible. At the moment he didn't see a Jedi, he saw a terrified soldier.

"Slick?" she whispered,

"Yes, is it alright if I come closer?" Slick asked, she nodded slowly starting to see that in actuality she wasn't on Umbara. Slick shifted a little closer, gauging her reaction to if she was going to panic again. Slick had to deal with PTSD before, as much as the Kaminoans might have liked the clones to withstand any psychological trauma. War does things to people.

"What's happening to me?" Esinon whispered, Slick could see her trembling.

"You were having what's called a flashback," Slick tried to explain, Esinon stared at her feet for a moment. "I think the fireworks triggered it," right on cue a firework crackled outside. Esinon shuddered, Slick shifted a little closer carefully placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, you're safe." Esinon scooted closer to Slick and rested her head against his chest. Slick awkwardly placed a hand on her back, "It's alright kid, war's hard, I know." He started to rub his hand up and down in a comforting motion. Slick had seen a lot of terrible things in his service of the Republic, and she shouldn't have to be experiencing any of this.

"Why can't I just watch fireworks like a normal person?" she asked softly,

"Because war does stuff to your mind," Slick said, Esinon sucked in a harsh breath as Slick wrapped his other arm around her.

"I'm sorry,"

"You can't control any of it, trust me, I've tried."

"Does it get better?" she asked, she had stopped trembling and had seemed to calm considerably.

"When you learn to manage it better, learn triggers, and cope in a healthy way," Slick explained, Esinon nodded,

"Thank you,"

"Sure kid," Slick replied, he'd taken a big step today. He moved outside of himself and his hate for the Jedi to help Esinon, and she couldn't explain how thankful she was.

**A few days later…**

"You're a Jedi and you can't ice skate?" Elliot asked, gracefully sliding around the rink. Esinon glared at him, gripping the edge of the rink.

"It's not my fault that it rarely gets cold enough on Coruscant for me to learn," she said, staggering forward on her ice skates. Elliot slid to a stop offering out his hands, she grabbed hold of his hands as he led her slowly around the rink.

"Do you ever think about moving here permanently?" Elliot asked slowly, Esinon flinched.

"Elliot, I can't leave the order,"

"Why not?" he asked, Esinon couldn't count how many times she had had this conversation with her family. You've found us so why won't you leave? Don't you love us? The answer was she loved the Jedi more, even though Obi-Wan was gone she still had Xavier and Ahsoka, Anakin, and all of the clones. That was her real family.

"In case you haven't noticed Elliot, we are in a galaxy-wide war and I control a large portion of the army," she said,

"But what about after the war?" Elliot asked,

"I don't think too much about tomorrow. Something I've had to learn with the war. It's not smart to think too far in the future, because I may not survive today." she said, Elliot's hands tightened around her own. "Yeah, I know," they continued to glide around the rink.

"It sounds childish, but I wish I could fix it," he said, Esinon smiled softly,

"I've been saying the same thing to myself a lot," she said, there would always be a part of Esinon that would have that childish need to fix everything that was wrong with the galaxy. It was in her nature to want to help others around her, get rid of their pain, but it was impossible. She just couldn't save everyone. The quicker she learned that the easier the war would become.

* * *

Slick rolled over in his bed, blinking his eyes a couple of times. He glanced at the chrono, it was around midnight. He and Dogma had gone to bed hours earlier while Esinon had stayed up with her family. He scanned the dark room until his eyes fell on her bed. She was still gone, he tapped Dogma's arm, shaking his brother.

"Dogma," he whispered, "Dogma!" he blinked his eyes open, groggily gazing at his brother.

"What? What's wrong?" he murmured,

"The kid, did you see her come back?" Slick asked, Dogma shrugged, looking up at Esinon's bed.

"Did she not come back?" he asked, looking over Slick's shoulder at the Chrono. Slick sat up, grabbing his shirt off the floor, pulling it over his head.

"I'm gonna go look for her," he said, Dogma started to sit up as well until Slick shooed him back down into his bed. "Go back to sleep,"

"I thought you said you'd never care about that 'di'kut Jedi'," Dogma chuckled, Slick rolled his eyes,

"This doesn't mean I care about her,"

"Mmhmm, you've started calling her kid and everything, it's sweet."

"Go back to sleep," Slick said, grabbing a transmitter with a flashlight capability and heading out the door. He searched everywhere he could think of, without invading any of the family's privacy. He had searched most of the house and couldn't find her anywhere, that's when it hit him, she'd talked about dog-sledding. He had seen a barn out back, maybe that's where they kept the dogs, and where Esinon was currently.

He grumbled to himself as he held the transmitter between his teeth, pulling on boots and a coat. Slick made the short walk through the snow to the barn and edged the door open. "Kid, you in here?"

She was sitting on an old, raggedy, pillow with a dog's head in her lap, slowly stroking the leopard printed fur. It was a pretty dog, with fur as white as snow, pointed ears, and leopard spots all down its body, it would blend in perfectly with the mountainous, snowy, Scipian landscape. He was surprised she hadn't glanced up at him, couldn't Jedi smell him coming, or something like that?

"Shouldn't you be asleep or something?" she asked, scratching the dog behind the ear, finally looking up at him.

"Well, when you didn't come back, Dogma got worried…" she smirked, able to read his face or his emotions, maybe both.

"Mmm, and did Dogma send you to check on me?"

"I'm a good brother like that," he joked, sitting down next to her. He scratched the dog's head. "Who's this?"

"This is my pooch, Bosco, he's a leopard wolf," she said, the dog thumped his tail in response. "So why did you actually come out here? I know you couldn't have liked trekking out into the snow to come find me." Slick shrugged, she shot him a look,

"Fine," he grumbled, "When you didn't come back I got worried, one time I had a brother disappear in the middle of the night. My Sargeant wouldn't let me go out and look for him. I never saw him again." She tensed up for a second, her fingers stilling behind Bosco's ear. "Now that we're confessing, what are you doing up in the middle of the night?"

"It's- it's Jedi stuff, you probably don't want to hear about it anyways. It's not a big deal,"

"It's obviously not 'not a big deal' if you're out here. And I didn't come all the way out here to for you to say it's nothing." he grouched, she sighed,

"I'm thinking…"

"About what?" he probed,

"About my family, and Obi-Wan." Slick tensed up a little, his former General. He had never hated Kenobi, Kenobi wasn't the reason he betrayed the Republic. The look in his General's eyes the day Slick had been arrested still stayed with him.

"You seem happy with your family, why not stay here? You don't seem overly fond of whatever is waiting for you back at the order." She shrugged, tracing one of Bosco's spots.

"Guess I've got you fooled along with my family," Slick glanced at her, she could sense his reaction. "Even though I love my family here, I- my real family is with the Jedi. Obi-Wan felt like more of a father to me than my biological one ever did." She paused for a moment, "And I was thinking about him… I miss him. I thought I would be over it by now, it's been almost two months, but now without the missions and responsibilities… I have all this time to think. It's scary... sitting alone with your thoughts."

"Yeah, yeah, I know the feeling. After I got arrested… and sent to prison, all of the adrenaline faded. I was used to a certain routine as a Sargent, and a soldier, whether I liked it or not. Prison gave me a lot of time to think, and be angry, really angry." She smirked,

"Yeah, I noticed,"

"Oh shut it," he grumped, she yawned,

"But you're aura isn't as angry anymore, not like when we first met. It's more calm, and happy. Didn't know that was possible," she teased, "But you've come a long way, considering you don't seem to hate me anymore. Your shields are pretty strong though…" she yawned again, "I could be wrong…" her head slumped against his shoulder. Slick tensed for a moment, feeling her shift into a slightly more comfortable position.

"Well kid," he muttered to himself, staring down at her. She looked so small… "I did hate you until I realized you're upbringing wasn't very different from mine. You're still a handful, especially when you do stuff like this," Far as he could tell, she was asleep, so he was talking to himself. "And don't you go thinking this means I like you, but you're alright kid, you're alright."

**The next day…**

"Are you sure you don't want to come Slick?" Esinon asked, packing the last of their supplies on her and Dogma's sled. Dogma was busy petting all the dogs attached to their sled, the same dogs who would be carting them around for the next week. They were big beautiful leopard wolves with white fur and gray leopard spots. It was a tradition to go dog sledding during the festival of life, it was how people got around thousands of years ago. "Because this is your last chance."

"I'm sure, pretty sure I'm allergic to those dogs anyways," he replied, now that Esinon looked, his nose was pretty red. She thought it was just because of the cold,

"Dogma and I will be gone for a week or so," Esinon said,

"A week?" he exclaimed, Esinon grinned,

"You can stay in the ship if you want," she replied, Esinon chuckled as she heard Dogma talking a baby voice to Bosco. The soldier had probably never even seen a dog in person before.

"If Thea will leave me alone for that long." Esinon's younger sister had taken an instant liking to the clone, she still called him Fives from time to time, but Slick couldn't exactly blame her. Thea was only two.

"There are lots of places to hide out, Nana's house is pretty big. Most of my family will leave at the end of the week to meet us. Are you sure you'll be alright here?" Slick nodded, kicking at the snow.

"Just take care of my brother,"

"Always. You ready Dogma?"

"Yep!" he proclaimed happily, bouncing to his feet.

"We are gonna win!" Elliot yelled, as his fiance Piper finished packing up their stuff, she rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"It's not a competition sweetheart,"

"Yeah?! Well get ready to eat our dust!" Esinon shouted, jumping up and wrapping an arm around his shoulders, consequently she dragged him down a couple of inches to match her height.

"May the best dog sledder win!" Elliot shouted, Esinon grinned letting go of Dogma as the two made their way to their sled. Dogma strapped himself in as she jumped on the back, she reached out with the force making sure she was in contact with her team of dogs before she let out the first cry.

"Mush!" and with that, they raced off into the mountains for Esinon to reconnect with her ancestral history.

**That night…**

Esinon stoked their fire with a stick, their ride into the mountains had been so peaceful. All of those years reading about the festival of life, and now she was actually here. It was surreal. Now that she was up in the mountains she could let everything that was wrong in her life fade to the background.

"So do they do this every year at the festival?" Dogma asked, Esinon nodded,

"It's tradition," Esinon knew that's not what Dogma really wanted to talk about, "Go ahead Dogma, you can ask,"

"Are you and Slick doing any better?" he asked,

"Yeah, yeah we are. I think he's gotten to the point of trying to see only the soldier side and forget the whole me being a Jedi. He's toned down the yelling and glaring and arguing so I got that goin' for me." she grinned, Dogma smiled,

"I'm really glad you two are getting along. I was worried that it would be miserable for the rest of the time," he said, Esinon nodded,

"So I'm assuming Jedi are the reason he betrayed the Republic?" Dogma shrugged,

"He doesn't talk about that stuff ever, so I don't really know." Dogma said, Esinon shrugged,

"Aren't family vacations fun," she murmured, her joke elicited a snort from Dogma.

"We've reached the point of family vacation, huh?" he asked, Esinon nodded, stretching up and looking up at the stars.

"How many credits do you bet that Slick has already retreated into the ship?"

"Twenty,"

"You're on,"

**A few days later…**

If Slick had been counting he would have known this was his twentieth time playing tea party with Thea in the last three days. Why Esinon's little sister liked him so much, he had no idea, but she was a fairly cute kid. Slick sat in the living room, mostly devoid of the family except for Anna and Daniel who were talking in the corner. Slick was holding a tiny plastic teacup in his hand, waiting for whatever Thea would do next.

"Here," she said, placing a plastic cookie in his hand, "You can eat that," Slick was surprised at how much the two-year-old could talk, but then again he knew nothing about little kids.

"Do you play any other games?" Slick asked, he was getting tired of tea party.

"I play dolls," she said, holding up the stuffed fox that she carried around with her everywhere.

"Fine, we'll play tea party." he grumbled, at least Dogma wasn't here to see this. He wouldn't let him hear the end of this. Thea grinned happily, handing him her fox.

"How know my sister?" she asked,

"Uh… it's complicated." Slick said slowly, the two-year-old cocked her head but soon dropped the topic of conversation moving onto the dolls she had set around the table. Soon Thea wandered over to her father,

"Daddy, can I come back to Coruscant with you?" she asked, tugging on his robes,

"Sweetie, you know you have to stay with Aunt Anna." he said, Slick didn't move, not knowing what Thea meant. Didn't she live with her father?

"But Daddy! I wanna live with you!" she wailed, Daniel scooped his daughter into his arms, then it happened. Thea reached out his hand towards Slick, calling her fox to her hand. Slick gaped at the crying two-year-old, did that just happen? Did Thea just… she did. She definitely did. Daniel and Anna didn't act like anything strange had happened which meant that they knew. They knew Thea had the same powers as her sister, and they were trying to hide her from the Jedi. Slick needed to call Esinon and ask her about all of this, and whether she also knew about her sister's powers.

* * *

Two days. It took Slick two days to get a hold of Esinon, then again there wasn't great reception out in the mountains. He had to wait until Esinon and Dogma were on the ship to go back to the Windcaster house. After the third ring of the transmitter Esinon finally answered,

"Windcaster,"

"Thea's force sensitive, isn't she?" Slick wasn't one to beat around the bush, Esinon's stomach dropped. She'd forgotten to tell Dad to not let anyone see Thea using her powers! "Kid, I saw her call a fox right out of my arms. Is that why she has to stay on Scipio?"

"Yes," Esinon said quietly, "Scipio is technically neutral ground, and Jedi aren't supposed to go here without authorization. I-I- my dad losing my mom, and then he's always worried about me, and I- he can't lose Thea too."

"That's not it," Slick said,

"What?" Esinon stammered,

"You don't want her to be like you. You don't want Thea to be a Jedi." he said quietly, Esinon let out a shuddered sigh.

"Guess I'm an open book huh?" she said, giving a weak chuckle.

"How long do you think you have before Jedi find out?" he asked, already trying to come up with a plan to protect Thea. Not because he cared about Esinon, it's because he didn't want the Jedi to ruin another kid's life. Esinon felt broken enough as it was. And it was because of the Jedi. Slick was realizing that Esinon was just another victim of the Jedi's cruelty just like he was.

"A year, maybe two if I'm lucky. She's safe for as long as the war continues, I think. I think Windu knows, maybe Master Yoda, I'm not sure." she said,

"Ok, just focus on getting back here," Slick said,

"Ok, see you in a few hours."

* * *

"Is this your shirt or Dogma's?" Esinon asked, inspecting a shirt that she found on the floor as they packed up to leave. "Well, it's on the floor, so it's probably yours." Slick scoffed, as she tossed it to him.

"Dogma's still got soldier in him," he grumbled, Esinon rolled her eyes fondly as she stuffed another one of her dresses in her bag. There was a knock at the door,

"It's open Dogma!" she called,

"Uh, it's not Dogma, it's Elliot." Esinon opened the door, "Can I talk to you alone for a minute?" She nodded and followed Elliot outside, a few minutes later Dogma appeared and Slick decided he wanted to know what Esinon and Elliot were talking about.

"Finish packing up this stuff, I forgot something in the living room," Slick said quickly, Dogma gave a nod before turning to their bags. Slick followed the pair at a safe distance to the balcony as Esinon and Elliot exited. Esinon glanced at her elder cousin before returning her gaze to the snow-capped mountains she had just spent a week in.

"I know you're leaving early tomorrow and I just wanted to see you without everyone else," he said, she nodded.

"I don't really know where we're going next. We never seem to figure that out until we're about to jump into hyperspace. Probably freaks Dogma out." she replied, moving the snow around with her boot. "Sometimes I really hate this place. Guess some things I can never move past." Esinon wondered if her life would have been different if her parents hadn't given her up if she grew up Scipio. Maybe she wouldn't feel this… broken. "And now I almost don't want to leave at all. Just leave everything behind,"

"Yeah, the feeling of uncertainty or lost-ness can be hard, and scary. But at least you're not alone, you've got those two with you." Elliot said,

"I know, but I can't help but want more. And right now I'm finally coming to the realization that even if I try to fill holes of guilt, emptiness, or darkness with other people it'll never be enough because I just want Obi-Wan back. And that can't happen." She hurriedly wiped at her eyes, realizing hot tears were streaming down her face. "I'm supposed to be better than this," she whispered, Elliot placed a hand on her shoulder,

"Esinon, listen to me. You are sixteen years old and just lost the only father-figure you ever really had." Elliot said, he understood better than anyone that her true family was the Jedi. No matter how much she might try to fit in here on Scipio. "And you need to grieve that, you need time to process after everything." She stepped closer resting her head against his chest as he fully brought her into his embrace. Silent tears streamed down her face,

"Why did he have to die?" she whimpered, "Everything is falling apart now that he's gone," When someone died and it felt like everything was falling apart. Like they were the glue that held your life together. you notice things more like when people argue about petty things, but they were there to distract you. Everything and everyone is on edge and constantly at one another's throats, and life feels like it's all coming crashing down around you. That's how Esinon's life had felt since Obi-Wan's death, and it felt like it would never be any better.

* * *

Dogma sat on the edge of his bed, it felt like hours since Slick had left. In actuality, it had been a few minutes since Slick had left, and Esinon was also gone. To where Dogma didn't know. Was he really so boring that neither of them wanted to hang out with him? He was interesting, he liked things… what things did he like? He still hadn't found a hobby or nitch like Slick had. He was still hoping to find one before General Windcaster left, he glanced up at Slick as he reentered. A smile spread across Dogma's face now that his brother was back.

"Hey! I finished packing our stuff-"

"Dogma," Slick began slowly, "How long has the kid been a military officer?" Dogma paused thinking,

"Uh… since Christophsis I think. Why?"

"Christophsis…" Slick murmured in disbelief. That meant that Esinon had been on an active battlefield since she was… twelve. The Jedi sent a kriffing twelve-year-old into a battlefield! Slick's jaw set,

"Slick? What is it?" Dogma asked slowly,

"Nothing. Just me finding new reasons to hate the Jedi," he growled, his fists clenching.

**That night…**

Slick couldn't sleep. He was too angry. It happened a lot in prison, too much quiet, too much time to think. So he had gotten dressed and went to the balcony to take a breath and refocus. He leaned up against the balcony, listening to the quiet whistle of the wind, as snow whirled around his feet and cold wind bit at his skin. Suddenly there was a familiar hum that pierced the silent night air. It was the hum of a Jedi starfighter,

"It can't be," he murmured, then his mind flashed to Thea. That must be why that slaver was here. He sprinted out towards the front of the house. Out in front of the Windcaster house, Thea had already felt the call of the Jedi who had come to take her to the temple. She had stumbled out half-asleep until she came face to face with a male twi'lek Jedi.

"Ah you did hear me," he said, "You were hard to find little one," he knelt down in front of her, offering her his hand. "Come with me and I will take you home."

"If you value your life, you will not touch her," Slick growled, the twi'lek Jedi glanced up at him, slowly rising to his feet in surprise.

"A clone?" he murmured, "How did you get here?"

"I took my freedom! And now I'm fulfilling my vow, to protect the people of the Republic." he snapped,

"So you're a deserter, and a misguided one at that." the Jedi said, as Thea grasped at the Jedi's robes.

"Tell me slaver, does her dad know what will happen to her when you take her? That she might fight in a war one day? That she might die for something she didn't even choose! You're a slaver, enslaving me, my brothers, and kriffing children! Does that bother you at all? That you have broken people?"

"To answer your question, Thea's father knows. He wants this for her. I can't hide the reality of war even though I wish I could. You can say that I hid the truth, took her against her will, whatever you want, but this is what her father wants for her." Slick's fists clenched,

"Liar!"

"Don't be sad Slick!" Thea cheered happily, "I'm gonna be a hero, just like Esinon!"

_We're gonna be heroes!- Please, I can still fight- Don't go! Don't leave me please!- You are worth nothing!- Why did he have to die? Everything's falling apart now that he's gone. _

"Esinon," the Jedi murmured, "When did you…" Slick had had enough, he charged the twi'lek and when the Jedi tried to shove him with the force, Slick easily dodged the blast. He knew that trick. He flipped upward, kicking the twi'lek in the shins and then grabbed his cloak. The twi'lek shoved him with the force, but Slick dug in his feet as he coughed.

"Not getting rid of me that easy." he panted, hand still clasped around the Jedi's cloak, Slick darted around him pulling the cloak over the Jedi's head, before sweeping a leg under his feet.

The Jedi's lightsaber flew off his belt into the snow, as Slick scrambled to grab the lightsaber the twi'lek struggled to his feet. Slick clicked the lightsaber to his belt, tackling the Jedi again, gripping him by his tunic as he repeatedly socked him in the face. "You. Aren't. Getting. That. Back!" Thea screamed ducking away from the two men, clutching her fox tightly. "Thea, go back inside to Esinon," Slick instructed. Their eyes connected, "Thea, go back inside." Thea sprinted back inside as Slick pressed the twi'lek's lightsaber to his temple, "And leave this, to me."

Without any hesitation or guilt, Slick ignited the emerald blade and the twi'lek went limp under his grip. He let the body fall from his grip, "Long live the Jedi," he growled,

* * *

Thea burst into Esinon's room sobbing, shaking her sister awake, consequently waking Dogma up as well. Both soldiers were light sleepers from years of battle.

"Thea, what is it? What's wrong?" Esinon asked panickedly, holding her sobbing sister close.

"There was a man! And Slick hit him!" she wailed, clutching at her sister's robes with tiny fists. Esinon glanced at Dogma and quickly handed her sister over.

"Thea, stay with Dogma. I will be right back, I promise." Esinon said, pressing a kiss to her sister's head before pulling on a coat and boots at superspeed and rushing outside. She only made it to the porch when she found Slick, "Thea just came into my room sobbing, what happened?"

"There was a bounty hunter posing as a Jedi. He tried to take Thea, but he already left."

"She said you hit him?"

"Yeah, we fought a little," Slick said, shrugging it off,

"Are you ok?" Esinon asked slowly, he nodded, "Thank you for protecting Thea."

"Course kid, now come on. We've got an early morning tomorrow," he said, guiding her back inside and to bed where she and Thea curled up. She knew her sister was now safe, except she didn't know how Slick did that.

* * *

**There's one more part to guilt and secrets after this.**

**Also a deleted scene from this chapter will probably go up on Tornado Trio later today **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: **

**Rex: you all are so handsome **

**Cody: That makes sense**

**Rex: just not as handsome as me**

**Cody: That does not make sense **

**Five more chapters in the Deception arc (it's a big one I know) **

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	41. Guilt and Secrets pt 4

**The next day…**

"So, where do you want to go next?" Esinon asked as Slick and Dogma joined her in the cockpit.

"I'm out of ideas," Slick said, Esinon looked over hopefully at Dogma.

"Do you have anywhere you want to go?" he asked, Esinon paused. She hadn't really thought about that. She did have an idea of somewhere she could take them if all others failed, although she felt bad just dropping in.

"Uh well… there's one place I thought you two would be safe," she said slowly,

"So where is it?" Slick huffed, well he was in a better mood than usual.

"Saleucami," she replied, well it stood to reason that neither Dogma nor Slick could report Cut or his family to anyone since they weren't a part of the GAR anymore. "Rex and I got injured while hunting for Grievous and we found a farm."

"But the Captain said that was abandoned," Dogma said, of course, he had read the report.

"I'm not living at some abandoned farm." Slick grouched, Esinon sighed,

"We only said it was abandoned to protect who lives there. A brother, a deserter. He has a wife, and two kids." she explained, "His name is Cut,"

"Really?" Dogma squeaked, "With a family?" Esinon nodded. Clones didn't consider that they could even have families, they all expected that the battle they were in to be their last.

"Yes, a little girl Shaeeah, and a boy Jekk. Cut will probably recognize me and said if I needed anything that I could come by," she said,

"Sounds as good as any," Slick said, Esinon let out a breath before giggling at Dogma. He looked about three seconds from screaming in excitement,

"Alright, Saleucami it is," she plugged in the hyperspace coordinates and sent them hurtling forward.

* * *

Esinon didn't know how long she had been staring at that wall of holos for. It felt like hours. She didn't know if she would ever be able to move past Obi-Wan's death, Umbara, any of it. She stared at a holo of her and Obi-Wan from when she was thirteen, that seemed like ages ago. She was going to be seventeen in a few months. A life day without Obi-Wan. That wasn't something she was looking forward to.

"Hey Master," she whispered, "I-uh, you're probably shaking your head from force heaven about all of my attachments. Some apprentice I am. I really hope that something I did while I was your padawan made you proud. I'm sorry I couldn't save you, it's something I'll always regret. And part of me will always regret not killing Hardeen, not getting vengeance for you, but revenge isn't the Jedi way I guess. I'm not much of a Jedi huh? What with Sith abilities I've been hiding because I'm afraid. I can still feel the light, and the call to the darkness it's been there since I was little but every Jedi has temptations, right? Maybe not. Maybe I am just a failure. I'm sorry Master, for everything."

* * *

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Slick asked, Esinon glanced up at him from the whipping lights of hyperspace.

"Uh, sure," she said, following him into their quarters. Esinon sat down on her bed and Slick sat down next to her.

"Look, you've been pretty open about your past with me, and I'm thankful for that. It helps me see a different side of you, hate you less I guess." Slick said, she glanced at him, she didn't really know where this conversation was leading… "So I may regret this later, but I wanted to explain some of my past, why I 'betrayed' the Republic." Esinon shifted on the bed.

"Ok, you don't have to if you don't want to. But I won't tell Dogma anything," she said softly, Slick nodded, rubbing his hands along his pants.

"You already know that I was with Kenobi on Christophsis. That was before my transfer. I was under an abusive Jedi General, I'm not gonna tell you his name, it doesn't matter now because he's long dead. He did not care about me, or my brothers. He wouldn't let us retreat unless he said so, would beat my Commander, and abuse all of us. We lived in fear. I lost my squad pretty early in the war, all of them slaughtered in front of me. Although they never liked me very much, it still hurt. The point is, when I was trying to find some time to grieve, my General said grieving is for civilians, not clone units." Esinon's fists clenched around a blanket,

"Slick I-"

"That's why I call Jedi slavers because they use and abuse us. Now that I've spent time with you, I see they're using you just as much as me. You're a victim, just like me. And I'm sorry that they're forcing you into war." he said, Esinon looked up from the floor,

"I'm sorry Slick." she said, "I wish you could have been placed with a Jedi who would have treated you well."

"It's in the past now, and it's better to leave it there," Slick said, making it clear that Esinon was not to bring any of this up again. She nodded,

"Thank you for telling me Slick," he nodded, patting her knee before leaving the room. Esinon couldn't believe it, for one that Slick had opened up to her but that there were more abusive Generals. How many more clone legions were suffering? How sheltered was she really? Her fists clenched around her blanket,

"I can't control everything, I can't control everything, I can't control everything," she whispered trying to calm herself. She wanted to fix everything. The guilt was overwhelming.

* * *

"Do you think the kids will like me?" Dogma asked, Esinon heard Slick grumble at Dogma's never-ending stream of questions. Esinon had parked the ship a pretty far walk from the homestead but that was only because there was no space to park it on the homestead. They had been walking for about half an hour,

"Shaeeah and Jekk will probably just be happy to have a new face around. As far as I could tell, the only person who really leaves the homestead often is Cut." She said, "I have no idea if he'll be delivering harvest since I'm not a farmer and don't know how crops grow."

"We're not new faces though," Slick said, both she and Dogma glanced at him, "Clone humor." Esinon sighed,

"Anyways, he's been there since the first battle of Geonosis." she explained, "they're very wonderful people, and you two will be happy here if you choose to stay. The war hasn't been out here since Grievous crashed here, the only reason I could think of for the Republic wanting it would be for farmland but they haven't shown any interest." Slick scoffed,

"I didn't think of myself as much of a farmer,"

"I'm sure you'll figure it out," Esinon said, "And besides not all people farm on Saleucami." She grinned as the homestead finally came into view, "We're here," Dogma smiled, she could feel his force signature wriggling with excitement. Two heads poked out from behind the house, the little blue twi'lek figured out who was approaching first and sprinted out.

"Esinon!" she cried, with Jekk close on her tail. Esinon knelt down to greet the two children.

"Hello, hello, hello!" she exclaimed, hugging both of them close, "Force, you've both gotten so big!" they two half twi'lek, half-human children pulled away.

"Dad will be so excited to see you!" Shaeeah exclaimed Jekk was busy staring up at Dogma and Slick. Dogma waved, trying not to spook the young child. He'd never interacted with kids so young, so he didn't know exactly how they'd react.

"Where'd my helpers go?" an all too familiar voice asked,

"Daddy!" Shaeeah shouted, running over to her father who was coming around the corner of the house. "Esinon's here!" Cut looked up from his daughter,

"Hi Cut," she said, the elder clone's eyes shifted up to Dogma and Slick.

"I think you have a long story to explain," he said, Esinon nodded sheepishly.

* * *

Cut thumbed the edge of his water glass,

"That's quite a story," he said, Esinon nodded, fiddling with the end of her tunic.

"I couldn't think of another place they'd be safe, and hopefully happy," she said,

"It'll be a little tight for you three,"

"I can sleep on the ship, it's not a far run." Cut glanced at her, she had said it took them half an hour to walk here. "Oh, I forgot to tell you I'm a speedster." He raised an eyebrow,

"Ok, you all are welcome here for as long as you need," he said,

"Thank you Cut," Esinon said softly, the elder clone smiled and nodded, "And I can help with chores and such, I don't like to be left not busy."

"I'll probably take you up on that offer," he joked, she smiled,

"Really, I can't thank you enough. I'll be here for a month, maybe less. I'm surprised I haven't been called back to the front lines." she said, Cut nodded.

"Dinner should be ready by six if you need to run back to the ship that's fine," he replied, she nodded before disappearing from the house.

**Later that night…**

"I'm gonna go to bed," Esinon said, patting Dogma's shoulder.

"O-ok, are you feeling alright General?" he asked, it was only seven o'clock. Cut glanced up from the dishes he was doing at Dogma calling her General, she cringed to herself. She'd left out the part of Obi-Wan's death and her becoming a General. She just told him the omitted version of Umbara and everywhere they had been up to coming here.

"Yeah, I'm just tired and Fives is calling me in a couple of minutes anyway. Worried about when I'm gonna come back," she said,

"I'll probably be up in a few minutes, now that I think about it I'm wiped," Dogma said, dragging a hand down his face. She smiled softly before disappearing in the guest bedroom that Cut had added during the repairs after the commando attack. It was small and only had one bed, but Esinon had decided to sleep in the bay window because she was small enough to do so. By the time she had fallen asleep, Dogma had drifted into the room, collapsing into bed, immediately falling asleep. The only one left downstairs was Slick, the kids were in bed and Suu had disappeared into the kitchen.

"I can tell something's on your mind," Cut said, Slick finally turned his gaze from the window. "We're brothers, I'd be a bad one if I couldn't' tell when something was wrong."

"You don't need to worry about taking three people in," Slick finally said,

"Did Esinon already get called back?" he asked, Slick shook his head.

"No, I'm not staying," he said, Cut paused for a moment.

"You're not staying…" Cut repeated slowly, Slick nodded,

"That's what I just said. I don't belong here."

"You can belong wherever you choose," Cut argued,

"I don't I don't belong here."

"Why?"

"Why!" Slick shouted, he mumbled something to himself, dragging a hand down his face. "Why…" Cut motioned to the chair and Slick begrudgingly sat down. "When the kid… Esinon came to get us from the detention center, one of our brothers told her something. That she couldn't let her guard down around me, that I would kill her if given the chance." Cut paused for a moment, a look of upset crossing his face.

"But she's- Esinon's here. They were wrong," he said,

"No. He wasn't, I did on Scipio. I was outside on the balcony and I heard the familiar hum of a Jedi fighter. Esinon has a little sister who is force sensitive. A Jedi came for her. Her father is hiding her from the Jedi, hoping and praying they won't take Thea. And that Jedi tried to take her to the temple. And then I did it. Esinon could have been standing right there and I still would have done it." he said,

"It? What is 'it'?" Cut asked,

"The nightmare that we all have. It's not one to me. It's a dream." Slick said, his voice rising, "Standing over his body with his lightsaber in my hand, I felt more alive than I have in my entire life!" Slick's head dropped as he let out a harsh breath. "That's why I can't stay here. I'm not like them, and they can't find out about this. I… I couldn't face Esinon's if she found out. She's not just some Jedi anymore, she's my Jedi. Besides she takes the guilt of the galaxy on her shoulders if she found out I killed one of her own to protect her sister… and Dogma… he wouldn't ever look at me the same way." Cut stared at his feet, trying to process everything.

"If you don't think you belong here, you can leave. I can show you where the spaceport is," Cut said, Slick nodded,

"Could I have a transmitter as well?" he asked, Cut nodded, walking over to Slick and squeezing his shoulder.

"I hope you find what you're looking for."

"Thank you, Cut."

* * *

Esinon blinked her eyes a couple of times as sunlight streamed through the window. She looked groggily around the room, Dogma was still sleeping, blankets, and pillows a mess. She scanned the floor for Slick, the sleeping bag on the floor looked like it hadn't even been touched. Then again, Slick obsessively made his bed from his time as a soldier.

As much as he tried to rebel against the Kaminoans and his training, he could not get that part of his training to go away. She decided to get up and go in search of food and Slick, she slipped downstairs where all of Lawquanes were missing.

She poked her head out the door to see Shaeeah and Jekk running around, Cut was already out in the field and Suu was sitting on a chair on the porch happily watching her family.

"Good morning," Suu greeted, Esinon smiled at her,

"Good morning, is Slick helping Cut or did he-"

"Did Slick not tell you?" she asked, Esinon looked at her slowly,

"Tell me what?"

"He left last night," she said,

"What?!" Esinon exclaimed, "When?"

"I'm sorry but not long after you and Dogma went to sleep," Suu said, Esinon sighed, running her hands down her face.

"Please tell me he at least told Dogma," she said,

"Told me what?" Dogma asked, as he came out onto the porch. "Are things not working out here General?"

"No…. it's not that," she said slowly, she didn't know how to tell Dogma that a brother he had become very close with had just left. "Dogma…"

"He left didn't he," Dogma sai quietly, Esinon nodded, "He didn't even say goodbye,"

"I'm so sorry Dogma," she said, placing a hand on his forearm.

"I know it's not the same Dogma, but he did leave you a message on the ship," Suu said,

"He did?" Dogma asked, Suu nodded,

"He left it on your bunk," she said, a look of determination crossed Dogma's face.

"I need to go check,"

"Do you want me to run you there?" Esinon asked, Dogma shook his head,

"Thank you General, but I want to go alone," he said, Esinon nodded smiling softly,

"May the force be with you," She said, watching Dogma sprint in the direction of the ship. Suu turned to Esinon,

"Although Slick didn't leave something for you, he asked us to tell you thank you, for everything," Suu said, Esinon smiled softly. She walked down the steps of the porch, staring up at the sky,

"You're welcome Slick, and I hope you find what you're looking for," she said,

_Hey Dogma. _

_I love you, you know that right? I hope you know that. _

_I know you have a lot of questions, and you know me. I don't always have a lot of answers. _

_Ones that don't involve me ranting anyways. Stars you've been patient with me. _

_I want you to know right now that you did nothing wrong. Neither did the kid. Me leaving is not your fault. _

_I was always distant from my squad when I was younger, maybe because they didn't like me very much, or I was doing things I wasn't supposed to be doing, but all of our brothers have always found solace in being around others. _

_I'm not like that I guess. _

_But spending time with you and the kid has helped me find myself, and these past weeks have been so good for me. Seeing life in a different light, both of you have been so patient with me, letting me move at my pace and letting me lash out and still loving me anyways. _

_I've wanted freedom for so long, but now I'm realizing my definition of freedom doesn't involve others. _

_I've wanted happiness for our brothers for so long, and I want happiness for you. _

_I know I'm a coward for leaving without saying goodbye, but I don't think I could face you. _

_I need to share something that might make you hate me. But I would understand if you do. _

_It's sad, it's really sad. And I've only told one person, and telling you is one of my worst fears, but here we go. _

_I killed a man on Scipio. _

_He was a Jedi. I swear he wasn't there for the kid. He was there for her sister. _

_I had to stop him. _

_And if I only save that one little kid, then I think I can make peace with that. _

_I can't make this sound noble. I killed him because I wanted to. Because seeing him enraged me. _

_And not just because of my past, and I loath the Jedi. But when you told me that Esinon… has been a part of this war since I was arrested..._

_I- what am I fighting for if the people who told me they're right are using children in their war? _

_I've seen her scars, she doesn't deserve that. _

_If I could, I would just save everyone. But I can't carry that, I've seen Esinon try and it's breaking her. _

_At the beginning of this trip, I was trying to get Esinon to leave the order. I thought she'd be happier away, that's part of the reason I took her back to her home planet. But she doesn't belong there either. I think that she needs to figure who she is, just as much as I need to. _

_If nothing else counts, I save one little kid and if that's all I get in life then I think I can make peace with that. _

_If you're still listening, how about I tell you something a little upbeat. More hopeful. _

_A little more Esinon-esque. That tiny bouncy child. _

_Gah, you've gotta love her. _

_These past few weeks, I know myself now more than I ever have and I wouldn't trade it for anything. _

_I've become a better person because of all of this. Because of both of you. _

_And I can't thank you enough. _

_I've got Cut's contacts, I'll call you first. I need a little time to get settled. _

_It probably won't help, but you don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine. _

_I want you to have a long happy and healthy life. _

_I love you Dogma. _

* * *

**A few days later…**

Esinon wiped her brow, looking around the barn. She staked her pitchfork in the pile of hay, turning her attention to the eopie. She picked up a brush off the bench that Rex had once slept on.

"Alright little guy, I won't make this difficult if you want," she said softly, opening the stall. The eopie nudged her face, she giggled as his snout tickled her ear. She started to slowly brush the eopie, cleaning the folds just like Cut had taught her. "Life must be easier out here, maybe I could stay. But I won't. I'm not brave enough for that." she whispered, the eopie nudged her face again. "You understand? I bet you're braver than me, huh?" The eopie snorted, "I like to pretend I'm brave, it's easier that way."

"Esinon? Are you doing ok in here?" Cut asked, walking into the barn. Esinon tensed up for a moment. How much had he heard? Probably not much, she wasn't talking very loud.

"Yep, just moving onto brushing the eopie," she said, poking her head over the eopie's back.

"Do you have a minute to talk?" Cut asked, motioning to the table as he pulled up his stool. Esinon nodded before hopping up on the table. "So, I've heard Dogma calling you General. Last time I checked you were a Commander, not a General." Esinon sighed, Cut's dad mode was kicking in. Even though they hadn't known each other as long as she had known other clones. "Are you going to tell me what that's about?" Esinon sighed, rubbing her hands along her pants.

"Have you been listening to the holo-net at all?" she asked, Cut shook his head. "Ok, so… normally with a clone legion what will happen if their General dies is they will either be dispersed to other legions or a new Knight will be appointed as General. For whatever reason…" she let out a harsh breath, "That wasn't the case with my legion. My Master… was killed in action. I was promoted twenty-four hours later, now I'm General of the 212th." she finished quietly, Cut stared at his feet before reaching out and placing a hand on her knee.

"For how long?" he asked softly,

"Three months now," she whispered, a lump forming in her throat.

"I am so sorry." he said, Esinon nodded, "So is there more to Umbara as well?" She nodded again,

"All of them are gone." she choked, her voice rising, "Half of Rex's battalion was wiped out because of me. Almost all of Dogma's squad is gone, Waxer's whole platoon is almost gone. And the worst part, Krell turned the legions against each other. All of those men were killed by their brothers." she hurriedly wiped at her eyes as hot tears slipped down her cheeks. She felt Cut's hand tense on her knee, "And I wasn't there for them. What did I do when I found out, I went into shock and then cried like a tiny child." she said in self-loathing. Cut didn't say anything, he rose from his stool and gently wrapped her in a strong hug. Esinon let out a shuddered breath, "And then I tried to give my life because I don't feel like I deserved to be alive because I had failed so miserably but this kriffing galaxy won't. Let. Me. Die." Cut let go and placed firm hands on her shoulders,

"I wasn't there, but you are a good kid. You cannot save everyone." he said, "The first thing you need to do is forgive yourself."

"That's the thing. I don't really think I deserve forgiveness," she whispered, giving a strained smile. Cut heaved a sigh embracing her again, "I feel so sick and guilty all of the time."

"Survivors guilt, you feel like if you can't save them you might as well just die right along with them." Esinon nodded, fists clenching around Cut's green tunic. "Have you tried to process any of this?" she shook her head,

"No. Because I have all this stuff to do and if I think about any of it the grief and guilt are crippling. I can't shut down and I will if I think about any of this." Cut sighed, rubbing his hand up and down her back.

"You need to. You need to process all of this. You need to take a break because you don't have to be a strong General out here." he whispered, Esinon tried to choke down a whimper, "You need to forgive yourself."

"How?"

"Thinking about it, processing it, talking about it," he said softly, Esinon finally let tears slip down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, this should be my burden. Not yours," she whispered,

"Suu was there for me, and right now you need someone there for you. I get to be that person," he said, Esinon nodded finally starting to let go.

"I know they're safe in the afterlife, but I want them here. They didn't deserve to die."

"And you don't either," Cut finally let go. "Have you ever thought that maybe instead of trying to die for them, you should try and live for them? Fight for them, fight for what they believed in?" Esinon shook her head, "I feel like that might be the best way to get out of this guilt. You did not kill those men. Their deaths are on the war. You didn't start the war. All that you have done if been forced to face this war, and then burden the guilt that is not rightly yours. Do you understand me?" She nodded, wiping at her face.

"Thanks, Cut," she whispered, he nodded,

"If you need to talk, please come to me," he replied, she nodded.

"I will."

"Good."

**Two weeks later…**

"We'll be back in the morning," Cut explained to his two children,

"Thank you so much for watching the children," Suu said, as she pulled on a coat. She and Cut were going into town for some time away. Life had finally adjusted into normality, and the guilt on Esinon's shoulders was finally starting to lift.

"Of course, I think we can have some fun," Esinon said, both children smiled up at her mischievously,

"Just don't burn the house down," Cut said, Dogma chuckled,

"I think we'll be just fine," Suu placed a kiss on both her children's heads before she and Cut left.

* * *

A thunderstorm raged outside, rain pounded against the house. Dogma had disappeared into the bedroom hours ago, but Esinon had stayed up to read for a while. Another crack of thunder rattle the house,

_Esinon curled up further into her blanket, her tiny twelve-year-old form becoming a tiny ball on her bed. She shuddered as another crack of thunder shook her room. She was terrified, every time thunder cracked it sounded like an explosion. She was scared she would be thrown roughly to the ground, listen to the screaming of her men, feel the fire blistering her skin. _

Esinon swiped to the next page of her book, listening to the rain slap against the windows.

_She actually whimpered at the next thunder crack as she tried to slam up her mental shields as Master Kenobi had taught her. He didn't want a weak padawan. He had trained Anakin Skywalker. The Hero with no fear. He didn't want a padawan who was afraid of thunder. She yelped as lightning flashed and the thunder cracked louder than ever. She pulled the blankets up over her head. At the next crack of thunder, she jumped out of her bed. She quickly sprinted down towards Master Kenobi's room, she paused hovering her hand over the door. She couldn't do this. She needed to be brave, just as she was about to head back to her room, more thunder raged outside. Tears slipped from Esinon's eyes, her heart and head pounding. The blast door to Master Kenobi's room slid open, and peered out groggily, his normally impeccable hair was mused from sleep. He spotted her standing in the hallway, _

"_Padawan mine, are you alright?" he asked, Esinon quickly nodded. _

"_I'm sorry Master, I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water and got a little lost in the-" thunder cracked and Obi-Wan's bond with Esnon was flooded with fear. Then it dawned on Obi-Wan, the thunder reminded her of battle. That's why she looked terrified. He silently cursed the universe for putting the burden of war on a twelve-year-old's shoulders. She should be admiring the storm, not confusing it with the front lines. _

"_Come here Esinon," he said, opening up his arms Esinon slowly walked over seemingly ashamed of her own fear. _

Esinon glanced up at a creak of the stairs, she spotted Jekk.

"Jekk, are you alright?" he shook his head, Esinon stood up and walked over to him, sweeping him up in her arms. "Did you have a bad dream?" she whispered,

"No," he whispered, more thunder shook the house, he shuddered, his small arms tightening their grip on her body.

_Obi-Wan gently embraced his padawan, _

"_You are safe, I promise," he said, Esinon's tiny arms tightened around his waist. _

"_I'm sorry," she whispered, Obi-Wan smiled softly, _

"_Come here, I want to show you something," he said, _

Esinon gently rocked Jekk back and forth, starting to pace the room slowly.

"Is it because of the thunder?" she asked, he nodded,

"I sleep with Mommy and Daddy when there's a thunderstorm," he said,

"I used to be scared of thunderstorms too," she said,

"Are you still?" Jekk asked, looking up at her. Esinon smiled, gently stroking one of his lekku.

"Sometimes it makes me a little antsy, but I learned a cool trick that makes me like the thunderstorm a little more."

_Obi-Wan set Esinon up on the kitchen counter so she could look out the window at the rain and lightning. _

"_Do you want to do something fun?" he asked, gently rubbing her back as she leaned into his embrace. Esinon nodded, "So if you count the seconds between a lightning flash and the thunder cracking, and then divide by five you can figure out how many miles the storm is a way." he explained, _

"_Really?" she whispered, Obi-Wan nodded. Lightning flashed, "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen." she counted quietly until thunder cracked. This time she didn't flinch as violently. _

"Now divide by five," Esinon said to Jekk after he finished counting, he quickly did the math in his head.

"Fifteen," he said, as Esinon shifted him to her hip.

"That's right, do you feel better?" Jekk rested his head on her shoulder, tucking her head right underneath her chin.

"It's kind of pretty," he said quietly, Esinon smiled softly,

"It is, isn't it," she replied,

"_Do you feel better?" Obi-Wan asked Esinon nodded. _

"_I'm sorry," she whispered, Obi-Wan shook his head. _

"_You have no reason to be padawan mine, I don't mind," he said, _

"_You promise?" she asked, he nodded, _

"_I promise," _

* * *

"Do you really have to go?" Dogma asked, Esinon sighed, smiling softly,

"Yeah, I got the call this morning." she said, "The people of Kiros have gone missing, and I'm needed." She fished something out of her pocket, a couple of folded up holos. "I want you to have these," Dogma took them from her hand and unfolded them, there was one of her and his squad, and the other was of him, Esinon and Slick. Dogma smiled softly,

"Thank you General," he said, his eyes welling with tears. Esinon gave a strained chuckle wiping at her eyes. She was really going to miss Dogma. "Permission to hug you, sir?"

"Permission always granted," she said as they embraced. She squeezed him tight, "I'm gonna miss you Dogma."

"I will too, General," he whispered, the two of them finally let go.

"I'll try to visit and call when I can," she said,

"Thank you, General, for everything,"

"You're welcome Dogma," They both hugged each other one last time before Esinon disappeared back to her ship to make the trip back to the _Negotiator._ Little did Esinon know, her next mission was a trap.

* * *

**Alright! Guilt and Secrets is finished! Although this is not the last time we'll be hearing from Slick and Dogma. **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: not relevant to the chapter but Thea is very attached to Fox before she moved to Scipio. She got excited when Esinon introduced the two of them and she found out he was named Fox like the stuffed animal she carries around obsessively. **

**Just in case yall were wondering it's still a few chapters till Obi gets back. I know this is a long arc but it's really setting up who Esinon is going to be as a person later in the story. **

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	42. Kidnapped

**Little disclaimer for those of you following my art account on insta. There are going to be some spoilers for Windcaster starting with my next post. If you'd rather not see some of those minor things, then this is a heads up. but if you're like me and impatient (which is why I'm drawing said spoilers.) Man I gotta ask the holy spirit for some more help with my lack of patience. Anywho- if you're like me and impatient then you can look at the spoilers. but if you are patient (teach me your ways) this is your warning. **

* * *

"It's been ten rotations since Master Yoda's last transmission. I just hope we're not too late." Anakin said to Esinon, she nodded finally breaking her gaze from the planet of Kiros below.

"Rex, take us down."

"Yes sir," he replied, giving her a soft smile. Everyone was happy to have the newest GAR General back from her extended leave. The cruisers descended into the atmosphere as they all headed down to the hanger. Esinon climbed onto her speeder, Rex sitting at the guns on her speeder. He leaned up so only she could hear him,

"Where'd you take Dogma?" he asked, she smiled,

"He's Shaeeah and Jekk's favorite new Uncle," she whispered, Rex smirked,

"He would love it there," he said, Esinon nodded, revving the Engines of the speeder as the gunships jolted out of the hanger. They rode through the city of Kiros for a while, everything was quiet. Too quiet.

"Anybody else think it's too quiet? I haven't seen any colonists." Ahsoka said, scanning the village. Esinon looked around finally noting that there were no Togruta around.

"They're probably just hiding," Anakin assured them,

"Let's hope they stay hidden, makes our job a lot easier if we don't have to worry about them in battle," Rex added,

"I don't like it, the droids have never been shy about using civilians as living shields," Esinon said,

"I'm sure they're here somewhere, let's make for the city center," Anakin said, they all pressed forward. After a few more minutes of riding, a pack of commando droids rounded the corner.

"Biker droids! Dead ahead." Ahsoka called,

"Squad! Tighten up! Form on me." Anakin instructed starting to go faster, Rex released fire as the droids started to charge them. Esinon simply focused on not getting hit while Rex obliterated any droid that came remotely close to them. The biker droids skidded to a halt as the Republic forces speeding right past them,

"Careful! They're circling around!" Esinon called, as the engines of the droids revved, racing towards the Republic forces. Ahsoka and Rex flipped around raining fire down upon the droids, one left. Esinon drew her blade and sliced right the commando's middle, and the speeder crashed into the ground sending up a brilliant explosion. "We're clear." They pulled towards the city center to see a squadron of droids, blue laser fire began to intermix with the red. A tank began lowering it's cannon before it could even take a shot at their forces Rex used a rocket to blast the tank into oblivion. "Nice shot!" Esinon cried, Ahsoka pulled out two thermal detonators and leapt up to the second tank. She quickly deposited the detonators into both turrets and flipped off the tank as it exploded gloriously behind her. Ahsoka smirked in satisfaction, they finally pulled into the city center. Esinon turned to Rex,

"Captain, have your men secure the area," she said, the General part of her mind taking over.

**A few hours later…**

After having set up a base and camp, Esinon looked around satisfied with her and her men's work. Tanks surrounded the area and walkers were everywhere. She spotted Boil and Bean coming back into camp, it still hurt and was strange to see Boil without Waxer.

"Boil, how's it going?" she asked, looking up at him from his perch on a walker.

"We're still mopping up a few clankers here and there, sir. We've established a perimeter around the Governor's tower. No one gets out without a fight."

"Good work," she replied, he gave her a curt nod before he and Bean headed back out. She turned back to Cody, "Cody, any word from the Separatist Commander?"

"He's barricaded inside," he replied, Esinon hummed staring up at the tower, seven plans already whirling in her head. "His name is Darts D'nar, and before you do whatever that face is thinking about, he's sent you a message." She chuckled before turning her attention to the recording. A Zygerrian appeared,

"Master Windcaster," she sighed, now that she was General everyone kept calling her that. They forgot that she was still a padawan and the rank of Master was far, far off, "Come to the tower, we will negotiate the terms of surrender."

"Well, that was easy," Esinon said, folding her arms over her chest. The transmitter was ripped out of Cody's hand with the force into Anakin's hand. The force raged with anger, Esinon's head was pounding. He smashed it in his mechanical fist,

"Zygerrian scum," he snarled, "I'll handle that slaver!" Anakin started to march towards the tower and Esinon jumped in front of him putting her hands on his chest as she tried to stop him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," she said, Ahsoka poked her head over a pile of crates at the display. Neither padawan knew what triggered the knight. "Anakin, Anakin," she said firmly, as the knight finally stopped in his tracks. "He asked for me. I need you to locate the colonists. We can't do this unless we work together." Anakin took a deep breath, his face still etched in a scowl, but his force signature had finally started to calm. Most likely from him slamming up his mental shields. Both padawans felt it.

"Fine." he grumbled, "I'll have Admiral Yularen initiate a planetary bio-scan." Anakin marched off and all of the troopers cleared the way. Ahsoka rose from her kneeling position on the ground,

"Any idea why he's so upset?" she asked, Esinon shrugged,

"I really don't know, but I would keep an eye on him," she said, Ahsoka gave a nod.

"Are you sure you don't want any back-up? This could be dangerous,"

"All of our missions are, but I'll be fine," Esinon assured her before making her way inside the tower.

**A few minutes later…**

The ornate elevator doors slid open and Esinon tried to drown out the screeching of animals in their cages. She didn't step fully into the room just yet, she could D'Nar and the oily voice of Count Dooku conversing.

"...shipments have been received, D'Nar." another Zygerrian voice said, she could recognize the thick accent.

"I understand the Jedi have attacked," Dooku interjected,

"Why are you still there?" the other Zygerrian snapped,

"I'm going to make the Jedi pay for their arrogance," D'Nar growled,

'_Which probably means a lot more broken bones for me. No. NO. I have HIM surrounded, not the other way around. He has no room to negotiate.' _She took a deep breath,

"I have them right where I want them," D'Nar finished with a satisfied smirk. Esinon took another deep breath and put on the facade of Negotiator and finally stepped out of the shadows.

"Do tell," she said, forcing a smirk on her face. The commandos whipped around, aiming their blasters at her. She put her hands up in a mocking placating gesture.

"Gentlemen, meet Esinon Windcaster, Jedi padawan," Dooku said,

"At least someone has it right," she replied, bouncing on the balls of her feet. The second Zygerrian bared his teeth, snarling at her. She rolled her eyes as Dooku and the Zygerrian turned back to D'Nar.

"D'Nar, bring her to me on her knees," Dooku said, Esinon cocked an eyebrow. She guessed that if Dooku couldn't kill her Master, he wanted to kill her.

"With pleasure," D'Nar smirked, Esinon crossed her arms, walking towards D'Nar slowly.

"We were going to discuss surrender?" she asked,

"Yes," D'Nar replied, placing his feet on the table as he continued to stroke the head of the convor in his lap.

'_He seems way too calm for a guy who is about to face trial at the Republic.' _she thought to herself.

"You will surrender," he said, Esinon almost stopped in her tracks. She forced herself to keep walking until she was a few feet from D'Nar's desk.

"We must have a misunderstanding," she replied coolly, she lowered her hands behind her back and discreetly pressed her comlink. Outside, Anakin's comlink would be buzzing and he would be aware of everything that was happening in that tower.

"No, you are wrong Jedi," he replied,

"Am I?" she asked, cocking her head. "I'm sure you're aware now that we've obliterated your droid forces, and have surrounded this tower. Do the honorable thing and surrender now D'Nar. I promise you will receive fair treatment." D'Nar stared at her boredly, fingers ruffling the convor's feathers.

"You think you've broken through my defenses?" he scoffed, "You think you've won? Think again. I've planted bombs all over the city." Esinon's stomach dropped, that's why he was so calm. He could kill all of the colonists, there was no way that the bioscan was complete. "No one will survive. Surrender."

"If you aren't lying, then I won't have any choice but to surrender." she said, "but you'll have to take some things into consideration." She stood up extremely straight, trying to make herself look bigger. "First, you release the colonists," she demanded.

"Here's my counteroffer," he growled, motioning to the tactical droid behind him. The droid pulled out a detonator and before Esinon could react, she was almost thrown to her feet by the force of the blast outside. Right where Anakin and Ahsoka were. She sprinted to the window where a structure had gone up in smoke. "There were no colonists in that structure, but there could have been." Esinon tried to shove the scared little girl inside away, "Now bow down to me and surrender to me you Jedi filth," She paused, she needed to stall for Anakin and Ahsoka to disarm the bombs. Her mind began whirring with any reading that she had done on Zygerrians, traditions, she kept mentally flipping starting to walk towards D'Nar's desk. She finally landed on one, Zygerrians used to have weaponless combat to settle debates. She could stall with that. She set her lightsaber down on his desk before backing up.

"Alright, I surrender," she said, holding her hands up in a placating gesture. D'Nar flashed his canines as he rose from his seat.

"Long before this war, you Jedi destroyed the great Zygerrian Slave Empire." D'Nar sadi,

'_Slave Empire huh? I wonder why we tore it down in the first place.' _

"I would kill you now, but Dooku would prefer you alive."

"Truly a shame," she replied, folding her arms over her chest. "It's truly frustrating that we can't resolve this in the traditional Zygerrian way." D'Nar's head snapped around, coking an eyebrow at the sixteen-year-old General. The convor in his arms flapped until it freed itself and flew over to perch on a cage. He chuckled walking to tower over her.

"Really? You would fight me without weapons? None of your Jedi tricks?"

"For a good reason," she replied, refusing to back down. She _had _to stall. "Say, if I win, you reveal the location of the colonists, and the bombs," D'Nar smirked, glancing over at a cage.

"And if I win, I'll deliver you to Dooku in a cage like one of these filthy creatures." Esinon didn't move.

"Maybe," D'Nar let out a feral growl, grabbing the front of Esinon's tunic and head butt her before throwing her halfway across the room. She groaned pushing herself up, so they were starting right now. Before she could even get up, D'Nar had already made his way over to her, grabbing her and holding her above his head and whipping her back into the ground. She couldn't even make a move at him before she was roughly thrown into a statue, which cracked….along with a few of her ribs. Creatures screeched and squawked in almost a demented cheer as they rattled in their cages.

"Careful!" D'Nar shouted, stalking towards her. Esinon was starting to realize this was a very, very, bad idea as black spots started to swim in her line of vision. "You're disturbing my pets! They fetch a high price."

'_Just buying time for Anakin, just buying time for Anakin.' _

* * *

It felt like they fought for hours. If you wanted to call it a fight. Esinon had been thrown around the room like a rag-doll. Anytime she tried to get a hit in, D'Nar's size quickly overwhelmed her. She had no idea how many injuries she had sustained at that point. Each breath was a fight as she just tried to stay alive. For Anakin, for Ahsoka, for Xavier, for Cody and Fives. For Korkie.

At the moment she had attempted to hide behind some of the animal crates, D'Nar shoved them over. Esinon finally got a chance and socked him in the jaw. Her face dropped when all he did was smirk at her, she was promptly kneed right in the stomach. She cried in pain, on the floor gasping for air. D'Nar grabbed a fistful of sweaty and greasy hair, wrenching her face upward.

"For thousands of years, Zygerria supplied slave labor to the galaxy." He threw her forward, and this time she managed to land somewhat gracefully. "We prospered!" he socked her in the back of the head, making her vision blur. "Our customers prospered!" he punched her again, "Then the Jedi came," She couldn't even make a move to try and defend herself before she was grabbed and thrown into the desk. Something cracked.

"I wasn't even born yet," She grunted, she tried to push herself up but D'Nar was too quick, and she found both of his massive hands around her neck. She gagged and strangled trying to force air in and out of her lungs, all the while pushing against him with both arms and legs trying to wriggle away from him. Next to her head, a holo-transmitter buzzed,

"What!" D'Nar yelled,

"Uh excuse us, sir," D'Nar slammed her down into the desk again, staring at the droid. "We have a problem."

"What problem!" This distracted D'Nar long enough for Esinon to sock him in the jaw, she wriggled out from his grip and smashed his head down into the holo transmitter, the desk splintered under the force and she felt glee rise up inside her. She jumped back, fists raised, she was not going to be pound to a pulp anymore. It didn't last long, because it appeared she hadn't injured D'Nar, just made him angry. He grabbed her tunic, throwing her into the opposite window. She groaned as she tried to shove herself into a sitting position. Her whole body ached in protest, but she persisted.

"Come on Anakin, hurry up," she grumbled sprinting at full speed towards D'Nar. She leapt into the air, socking him hard in the jaw, throwing him off balance enough for her to continue. She sent a barrage of punches into the Zygerrian, releasing all of her pain and anger into every blow that connected with his body. Soon enough she had him pinned against the desk, electrified fists scorching the Zygerrian's face.

She finally realized what she was doing and backed off. That was a mistake. D'Nar took the opportunity, despite scorched fur and black eyes, he grabbed her and held her above his head. He threw down to the floor as hard as he could, glass shattered beneath her, and all she could get out was a strangled gasp. D'Nar knelt down next to her, grabbing her by the scruff of her neck and socked her again in the jaw.

She attempted to move but D'Nar grabbed her foot and dragged her along the floor. She sighed, this wasn't going well. Should have kept punching instead. D'Nar picked her up by her neck, fingers tightening around her windpipe.

"Now I will take vengeance for my people, Jedi." he snarled, Esinon could only get out a choked noise as she attempted to wriggle free of his grip. She was vaguely aware of a droid appearing on a transmitter,

"Uh sir, the Jedi have disable the bombs." the droid reported,

"What?!" D'Nar roared, he promptly threw Esinon into the ground again. She slid against the glass, "Give me the detonator!" D'Nar frantically pressed the button repeatedly, nothing happened. Esinon gingerly rose to her feet, scrunching her toes and fingers quickly assessing injuries like she was taught. She definitely had some broken bones but she could still move all of her limbs, she'd probably be fine.

"Certainly took him long enough," Esinon murmured, calling her lightsaber to his hand. "So, shall we discuss your surrender? Again?" she smirked, igniting the azure blade. D'Nar ran over to the tactical droid, typing a few things into a panel on its back.

"I still have one bomb left Jedi!" he cried triumphantly, he shoved the tactical droid into her, sending the already weak Esinon to the ground. She shoved the tactical droid off of herself, trying to chase after D'Nar but then remembered that she was in a room with a live bomb. D'Nar disappeared down the elevator shaft, she used the force to shoved the panicking tactical droid out the window where it promptly exploded. She pressed her comlink,

"Anakin, D'Nar is making a break for his ship!" she shouted, already jumping down the elevator shaft, she sliced a hole through the elevator's ceiling and dropped down to find D'Nar sprinting a few hundred meters away. He'd already broken through the clones, "Outta my way!" she screamed, breaking into a full-on sprint, and the clones separated like the Red Sea. Esinon desperately tried to reach D'Nar despite her broken and aching body, except the world was starting to spin. She spotted Anakin and Ahsoka burst through the treeline to get to D'Nar.

Esinon finally stopped running, she had lost him. She pressed a gentle hand on her ribs, grimacing. Wrong move. One wrong move and she could puncture a lung. She had to stay alive, she had to stay alive, had to stay alive, had to stay alive. Her knees buckled, and she was dumped unkindly onto the cobblestone street. She rolled over, groaning and trying to blink black spots out of her vision.

"Medic! Someone get a medic!" someone shouted, she wasn't sure. She was starting to fall out of consciousness. The next face that came into view was Cody,

"M fine," she mumbled, trying to wave him off and sit up, but Cody pressed her back to the ground. He grimaced at her shaking muscles, her whole body quaking with exhaustion and pain. She had cuts and bruises everywhere and angry red marks on her arms and neck.

"Stay still, you're not fine," he said, she could feel warm blood tricking in her eye, which Cody quickly wiped away. She grasped his arm,

"Help me stand- I need to go-"

"You need to hold still," he said, starting to get frustrated with how stubborn she could be sometimes. So determined.

"Just give me a painkiller, I'm fine," she protested, Cody finally grabbed her shoulders, forcefully holding her to the ground. She opened her mouth to speak again but all that came out was a fit of wet coughs, making her moan in pain as she grappled at her chest. The coughing finally subsided, "Coughings probably not a good sign," she murmured, finally going limp under Cody's grip.

"Gah, you look terrible," he murmured, smoothing her messy hair out of her face. "Drummer! Kix! Get over here!" The medics finally arrived and Esinon quit protesting as painkillers were finally administered.

"Can I pass out yet?" she murmured, the very act of breathing hurt. Kix chuckled,

"Well, it'd be preferable if you didn't, but if you really don't think you can stay awake we can always carry you." Esinon scowled at him.

"Nobody's carrying me," she growled, grabbing onto Cody's shoulder and forcing herself into a sitting position. She groaned at the dull pain that ripped through her body, before she could even protest Cody had picked her up, cradling her close to his chest. "You're gonna ruin my reputation," she murmured, finally giving in, her tired body going slack in his arms.

"Let's make sure you stay alive to have one," he replied, subconsciously tightening his grip on her. Esinon sighed, at least she was alive.

'_I have to keep living, for all the troopers who have died. I have to keep fighting.' _

* * *

Esinon had been confined to the med tent for what felt like hours when Anakin and Ahsoka dragged D'Nar back to camp. Kix tugged at the bandages around her ribs making her grunt again.

"Sorry," he said,

"I blame D'Nar," she replied, biting the inside of her cheek. Esinon knew that the colonists were no longer on-world, The Zygerrians no doubt had them, and only the force knew what was happening to them. Esinon let out a harsh breath as Kix finally started packing up his medical stuff.

"Alright, you're free to go. Just take it easy."

"I'll try," she replied, before disappearing from the med-tent, trying not to move too much. She took a breath, using the force to dull the pain of walking as she headed towards the command tent. Before she was able to make it to the tent, she was met with Anakin and Ahsoka and an unconscious D'Nar being dragged behind them. "Great, you guys got him," she said in relief, Ahsoka nodded, yet Esinon could sense her friend's unease.

"Yeah, we got this scum," Anakin growled, so that's why Ahsoka felt so uneasy. Both padawans could sense the anger rolling off the knight. Anakin stared down at D'Nar's scorched flesh and fur, "Looks like you did a number on him to, what'd you even do?" Esinon's stomach flipped, trying to think of an excuse.

"Uh, I smashed his head into a holo-transmitter, it sparked up and his face caught fire." she lied, Anakin gave her a nod.

"Good work Speeds," After D'Nar was placed in a secure holding facility, they headed into the command tent.

* * *

"General Skywalker, I ran the bioscan twice, but the results were negative." Admiral Yularen reported,

"Are you saying the colonists are not in the city?" Anakin exclaimed,

"I'm saying they're not even on the planet." he said, "The entire population seems to have simply vanished."

Vanished?" Ahsoka asked, her brow markings screwing together, "That's impossible, these are my people."

"Troubling the return of Zygerria is," Master Yoda said,

"It is likely they mean to use Dooku to rebuild their slave empire." Master Plo suggested, either way. Esinon felt like she was gonna throw up.

"We cannot allow that Master," Anakin replied,

"Agree I do," Master Yoda replied, "but first, find the colonists you must. In great danger they are." The three Jedi nodded before ending the holo-transmission.

"So we're heading to Zygerria?" Esinon asked, folding her arms over her chest.

"It certainly does appear that way," Anakin replied, Esinon sighed,

"Unfortunately this mission is only beginning," she murmured,

* * *

Esinon tugged at the sleeve of her Zygerrian armor, starting to have a very bad feeling about this mission. She looked out around the ships around their freighter, too many people all flocking to Zygerria. What horrible, wicked people,

"Looks like Zygerria is a popular place these days," Anakin said, Esinon hummed,

"Whatever is happening is attracting a lot of high-class scum," she replied, with a small smirk on her face. She had to keep up the facade of Negotiator. They pulled down into Zygerria's atmosphere, Esinon anxiously tugged at her gloves for the millionth time. Out of pure habit, she rubbed at her abdomen where bandages lay, Anakin instantly recognized it as an anxious twitch she had, not that he couldn't feel her anxiety shooting through the roof. Why she was so stressed out, he didn't know. Sure Esinon had to deal with heightened anxiety since she was very little, but she'd never had to take any medication for it, which Obi-Wan had always been thankful for.

"Speeds, are you alright?" he asked, Esinon jumped,

"Oh uh- yeah I'm fine," she said quickly, Anakin cocked his head.

"Come on Esinon, I'm not stupid, you might not be my padawan but I've known you for as long as Ahsoka. So why is your anxiety spiraling like a hurricane?" she sighed, running a hand down her face.

"It's just… my last mission as General didn't go so hot, so yeah I'm feeling a little- fine a lot nervous," she replied, Anakin sighed,

"Umbara was one bad mission Speedy, all of your other missions as a General have been a success," Anakin said, Esinon's hand went to her abdomen again where crisscrossed scars lay. One from Sarrish and one from Umbara. "But if you want to pull out from this mission, now's the time to do it."

"No!" she exclaimed suddenly, "No, I want to go through with the mission. I'm just nervous that's all, I can do this Anakin, I promise." she said, Anakin nodded, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly,

"I know you can Esinon, you're doing great," he said, Esinon smiled softly. R2 rolled past them and Anakin tossed him his lightsaber, Esinon followed suit.

"Hang on to that for me will ya buddy?" R2 whirred in response, stashing the sabers for later. Rex joined the two Jedi Generals as they headed down towards the catwalk, "Let's just hope the information our spies gave us about the Queen is accurate. Remember, I'll keep her occupied while you locate the missing people of Kiros." Anakin said, taking the helmet Rex offered him and placed it on his head. Esinon pulled her helmet on her head,

"And how do you plan on keeping the Queen occupied?" Esinon asked, Anakin chuckled,

"Well, with my magnetic charm of course," Esinon rolled her eyes.

"Please tell me you have a plan B." she replied, Anakin huffed to himself as the catwalk slid down revealing the sprawling planet of Zygerria. The whole planet reeked of smog and animals. Esinon's stomach churned. Ahsoka finally joined them, her whole body covered in a large gray cloak.

"Remind me why I'm the one who's playing the part of the slave?" Ahsoka asked, studying the rings on her fingers. Esinon knew it should have been her that was playing the slave. Esinon was younger, but now she was a General, she had to take larger parts of missions.

"I tried it once, I wasn't any good at it." Esinon's head snapped in Anakin's direction, he was a slave?! Anakin was a slave… that's why he was working so young in that shop. He had been that disgusting Toydarian's slave. Esinon's breath caught in her throat. Rex tapped her wrist, drawing her back to the present. He silently tapped her wrist again,

'_Ok?' _she tapped his wrist in response.

'_Yes,' _The Captain gave a nod before they followed after Anakin and Ahsoka. She'd missed the back half of their conversation from getting lost in her own thoughts. They finally entered the complex of the city, animals, and people were yelling and fighting. There were people everywhere, it was _so loud_. There were people on chains. Slaves. It was taking all of her willpower not to throw up. They were taking the empire down today. It would be alright. Esinon's attention was drawn from the streets at Ahsoka's noise of disgust,

"Ugh, how can a civilization so advanced still practice slavery?" she asked,

"It makes them wealthy and powerful at the expense of others," Anakin explained, "before the Hutts bought my mother, she was sold in a market just like this." At that moment Esinon's eyes were drawn to a twi'lek who had a collar around her neck, with a chain. A Zygerrian tried to tilt her chin up so a customer could get a better look at her, but she quickly dipped her head back down. She felt Rex grab her wrist again and give her a gentle tug to keep moving. She quickly shook herself from her stupor,

"Pull it together Windcaster," she growled to herself, Esinon kept her gaze fixed on the ground, trying not to get distracted. It's not that she felt guilty, she felt sick. Esinon knew that at her current moment in time, there was nothing she could do. '_Just focus on finding the colonists.' _Esinon was torn from her thoughts at a strangled sob. There was a group of twi'leks ahead of them, all bound in chains, and one had stumbled. The Zygerrian burst through the crowd of twi'leks glaring down at the male who had fallen. Rex tapped her wrist, now was their time to slip away.

"Are you ok?" Rex murmured,

"Fine," she gritted out, she was getting a worse and worse feeling. Even though Slick had said he didn't see her as a contributor to the Jedi's actions, a little voice in the back of her head kept whispering. '_This is exactly what you're doing to the clones. A slaver guarding their cell.' _Then there was another voice, '_Look at your body. You have the scars to prove that you would die for them.'  
_

Esinon subconsciously rubbed at her abdomen, again. Thanks to bacta, her ribs were almost healed. After what seemed like hours of walking through that filthy market, Esinon had worked up quite the headache at all the yelling.

She was starting to realize how quiet her leave had actually been. She missed quiet nights with Slick and Dogma or talking with Cut about all the crappy things that had happened to her during the war. Figuring out how she was such a victim. And she never even knew it.

She was torn from her thoughts when a Hutt elbowed her in the shoulder, he yelled something at her in huttese. Of what little huttese Esinon had learned from Anakin, she could tell it was very vulgar. At that point, they had made it to the slave pits. The very name made her feel nauseous.

"Sir," Rex whispered, peering over a pit. "Come take a look at this," She peered over to see the hunched over form of a togruta. The same pastel colors peeking out from bruises and dirt that matched the markings of the people of Kiros. Each colony of Togruta looked a tad bit different, something she'd learned from Ahsoka.

"Cover me," she replied, using the force to jump the twenty feet down into the pit. She gasped at who she found, "Governor Roshti?"

"No!" he exclaimed, only seeing her Zygerrian helmet. "No, no, no!" he cried weakly, hurriedly scrambling away from her. Esinon pulled off her helmet, letting him get a good look at her face.

"It's ok, I'm a friend, a Jedi here to help," she said, when she deemed it safe to do so she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Where are your people?" she asked,

"They're… they're…" he whispered, he never finished, collapsing in her arms. Esinon's stomach flipped, she could feel his ribs against her hands. She used all of her strength to put the governor in a fireman's carry over her shoulders and jump out of the pit. She set him up against the wall, starting her search for injuries on the Governor's body.

"Sir, did you find where the others are?" Rex asked frantically,

"Not yet," she replied, "We've got to get him out of here." She scanned the walls of the city and spotted a… reptile creature, thing? She'd never seen one before, but they could fly. She leapt up onto the turret and before the guard could even blink she threw him over the wall into a pit. Scum probably deserved it too. She snapped the reigns, the creature scrambling down towards Rex and the Governor.

"You there!" A guard shouted as Esinon and Rex loaded Roshti onto the reptile, "What are you doing with that slave!" Rex grabbed onto the reins as Esinon sat the Governor down on smashed in between her and Rex. The slave pits flashed underneath the belly of the creature as they attempted to escape. A blaster shot rang, and Esinon didn't register that she had been shot until she and the Governor were falling.

"No!" Rex cried, as the creature flew away before he could even try to go back for either of them. Pain flared in her shoulder as she hit the ground and rolled over herself, trying to tuck her body in on herself. When she finally crawled to her knees, she found several blasters at her head. Before she could even reach for the Governor, a hilt of a blaster hit the back of her head and the world went black.

* * *

Crack. "_Why does that hurt?' _Esinon thought blearily, finally coming into consciousness. Crack. It smelled like burning flesh- her burning flesh. Everything came rushing back to her, she panicked for a moment but the crack of the whip hurt even more on her tense muscles. She could feel blood trickling down her back. Whip lashes cracked down upon her for what felt like hours as she continued to drift in and out of consciousness. If the Zygerrians were asking her questions, she didn't know. She never heard them if they did. She twisted her wrists against the chains, gritting her teeth as another whiplash fell upon her back, bandages and belts had long fallen to the ground in a scorched bloody mess.

"Well, who is she?" a voice growled, she hadn't even become aware of another person entering the room.

'_I need to stay alive, stay alive, stay alive,' _she continually thought, the Zygerrian who had been torturing her gave a dark chuckle.

"She hasn't talked yet, but I'll loosen her tongue," he growled, she whimpered as another whiplash cracked down upon her back.

"Why would a slaver try to rescue a slave from the palace?" the second Zygerrian asked, "it's suicide," At the next whip lash, Esinon's back arched, her head falling back. The Zygerrian's eyes widened, Esinon recognized him. The Zygerrian from the hologram. The problem was, he recognized her too. "Wait," Esinon rolled her head back towards the ground, but her gaze was quickly wrenched up towards the Zygerrian roughly by her chin. She desperately tried to pull away, but she couldn't, she was too weak. "I know you from the hologram. I never forget a Jedi." he snarled,

* * *

Someone kicked her in the stomach, Esinon blinked her eyes a few times. Everything hurt. She didn't want to wake up, she closed her eyes. She didn't want to wake up ever again. Someone grabbed a handful of her hair wrenching her to her knees.

"Wake up!" the voice snarled, Esinon finally blinked her eyes fully open, but she couldn't see anything. She was blindfolded. Great. A canteen of water was shoved into her hands, she hungrily drank it. She had no idea when she last had water, or when she'd get more so she downed all of it. She heard laughing when some water sloshed onto her tunic. Someone grabbed the scruff of her neck, wrenching her to her feet. "Up!" Someone prodded her forward, she moved at the electricity that surged, heavy shackles on her hands, dragging her down.

She walked a few more steps as she was prodded forward, she took a moment to reach out with the force when they stopped. She could sense Rex right outside. He came back. He was alright. Thank the force. She could feel Anakin and Ahsoka not far off either, but behind her, she could sense thousands of desperate flickering force signatures. Fear and pain, signatures that waved and dipped like her own at the moment, and in front of her, thousands that wanted…. entertainment.

"Your Highness! Zygerrians! And guests from a thousand worlds!" a voice yelled, the blindfold was removed from her eyes to reveal a giant pair of doors.

'_Oh no… I'm the entertainment.' _

"Our auction begins with slaves of unmatched quality and impossible quantity!" the voice yelled,

'_I'm going to be sold,' _

"I give you Togruta from the Kiros system!" Esinon bit her cheek, she was failing.

'_Rex and Anakin will come. We'll save the Togruta right here, take down the Zygerrians, and I can get some bacta for my back because kriff it hurts.' _A new wave of confidence rolled through her, but the cheers outside were deafening. The cuffs were removed from around her wrists.

"This handsome sample represents no less than fifty-thousand units!" the Zygerrian voice yelled. The cheers were deafening, but then they subsided. The voice of the queen rang,

"Before we begin the auction!" the Queen announced, "I would welcome a most special guest, Esinon Windcaster." The doors slid open and the light was blinding, she held her hand up to block some of the sunlight. "Jedi General," The entire stadium erupted in jeers and shouts. It was so loud, her head was pounding. All the faces in the stand were blurring together, it was hot out here, and loud. She struggled to walk forward, moving slowly, but surely with a heavy limp. "My friends! My good friends!" the Queen called, somewhat quieting the audience, "Do not fear the Jedi! They are no different than others we have forced into submission." She finally stepped up onto the platform, blinking holo-cams surrounding her. "For they have forsaken their ideals to serve a corrupt senate. The Jedi are all slaves to the Republic." Esinon didn't have the strength to disagree with her. The Republic kept her life confined, she was being used by them. She finally looked up at the Queen and could spot the forms of Anakin and Ahsoka. She felt a little nudge of reassurance against her mind, she looked up at Anakin and he gave the tiniest of nods. He couldn't break cover now. "The Jedi order is weak, and we will help break it." A guard jabbed her with the butt of a spear and instantly fell to her knees. Fighting back was pointless. It was degrading. She placed her hands on the back of her head, knowing what was coming next.

"Whip the Jedi!"

"Whip the Jedi!"

"Whip the Jedi!" The crowd cheered, but a small spark of hope coursed through her veins as she felt a familiar force presence come up behind her.

"Well Speedy, looks like I have to save you again," Anakin said, she let out a shallow chuckle,

"I knew you'd have a back-up plan," she replied, '_No you didn't,' _a little voice said in the back of her mind, she decided to ignore.

"Prove to me you are a slaver, or die beside him." the Queen ordered,

"Well those are some lousy options," Anakin mumbled, Esinon heard the hiss of the whip igniting behind her. "You leave me no choice highness," The whip cracked but it never fell upon her back, instead a guard cried out in pain. Esinon used the opportunity to roll and throw a guard off the platform using the force. The adrenaline pumping through her body was enough to make her momentarily forget how much pain she was in.

"Guards! Subdue them!" the Queen cried, she blindly caught her lightsaber from Anakin already deflecting blaster bolts.

"Ahsoka the Queen!" he yelled, the doors opened and twenty more guards flooded the arena. About twenty more guards flooded the arena, Esinon's grip on her lightsaber tightened as they all ignited whips. Anakin leapt up onto the platform, she panicked for a second as she watched Rex go down, with no weapon to defend himself. She needed to focus, she deflected and dodged every whip that came her way, but she was tired, the adrenaline was fading, her vision was blurring. She felt a whip snap around her wrist and wrench it backward, she felt something crack. The next whip fell around her neck, she groaned at the electricity sizzling through her body. She finally collapsed, too tired to go on.

The last thing she heard was the crowd cheering and Anakin screaming.

* * *

**man. Esinon cannot catch a break. Yet I'm the one who wrote it... **

**Welp, **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: This has absolutely no relevance to the chapter but it's funny. ****Gregor and Wolffe are the uncles from secondhand lions when they shoot at anybody who came to their house. Honestly they're the uncles from secondhand lions at all times. Look up the salesman scene on youtube and the shooting fish scene**

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	43. Escape from Kadavo

She awoke to the sound of engines whirring. She blinked her eyes open, it was dark, humid, it was hot. Her whole body hurt, feeling sweat trickle down her back, stinging in her open wounds. She groaned, closing her eyes again. If no one kicked her, she wasn't going to wake up.

"General... General," someone whispered, she finally blinked her eyes open, shifting them around the dark room until they found a familiar blond head.

"Rex?" she murmured, starting to shift from her uncomfortable position on the floor. She could feel a collar around her neck, great. He was sitting up against the wall, with Governor Roshti not far off. "Where are we?"

"A ship of some sort, we've been traveling for a day maybe more. Come here," Esinon knew that voice, it was the big brother voice. A lot of the clones used that tone with her, she didn't care if she outranked them, they had years of experience on her. Esinon slowly but surely dragged herself over to Rex,

"Where does it hurt?" he asked, already starting to assess the wounds on her back, she could feel his force signature churning with anger. She had no idea how injured her back was but she didn't think it looked pretty.

"Everywhere," she murmured, Rex gave a half-hearted chuckle,

"Can you move all your limbs?" he asked, Esinon closed her eyes carefully scrunching all her fingers and toes like she was taught until she reached her right wrist and pain shot through it. She gritted her teeth,

"I think my wrist is broken," she said, Rex gently inspected the limb.

"Yeah, I've gotta set this," he said, pulling off his vambraces and tearing off a strip of fabric from the bottom of his tunic. "Try not to be too loud, they threatened to take away dinner if we were," he explained, giving her a sympathetic look. Esinon nodded concentrating on the force for a moment, dulling any sensation in her wrist. A crack and ground of Esinon's teeth later, Rex had set and wrapped her wrist. She tiredly rested her head against the wall, scrunching her eyes shut.

"Any idea where Anakin and Ahsoka are?" she whispered,

"No, but I wouldn't worry too much," Rex replied, she chuckled,

"I'm gonna anyway," Rex put an arm around her, she sighed. She had a feeling it was going to be a while before someone could rescue them. Might as well get to the pain now.

"Try and get some sleep," he whispered, she nodded closing her eyes and gladly succumbing to darkness.

* * *

The ship clunked into the atmosphere, Esinon jolted awake, Rex still had a protective arm around her as a pair of Zygerrians approached. The first one grabbed her ponytail and wrenched her away from Rex as she struggled and yelped at the pain. No doubt the guard would have a fistful of hair left in his hand when he let go. At the moment Esinon was really, really wishing that all of her hair would disappear. She was set on her feet, and shoved forward, her collar sizzled, sending a low pulse of electricity through her body. It didn't hurt, but now her collar was on. The catwalk slid down and there were the togruta, silent and lined up in rows. In the middle sat a fat Zygerrian in a repulsor chair. Keeper Agruss. He probably had never worked a day in his life. Disgusting.

"My people!" the Governor exclaimed, "we've found them!" Esinon smiled weakly as they stepped forward and finally stopped. Esinon stepped in front of Rex, she was a Jedi. And Jedi protected their men, she stared down the Keeper.

"General Windcaster," he said, "You are the first Jedi I have _entertained _at our education center. Few possess a Jedi's resolve, and strength of will is my greatest enemy." He pressed a button on his chair and five togruta fell through the platforms beneath their feet, Esinon grit her teeth as she listened to their screams echo. She didn't dare move, more would die if she did. "Now that I have your attention Jedi, know that it will not be you who suffers." The Zygerrians prodded them forward, and Esinon moved and didn't even try to fight it. She kept her head bent low, watching the frail body of the Governor ahead of her.

* * *

Days started to blur together, beatings, jeering, tugs at her hair, barely enough food and water to survive. Esinon was losing weight scarily fast, she could almost count her ribs through her skin. Her tunic barely covered her body with the number of times that a whip had come down on her back. She'd given up on fighting back because it only hurt the Togruta more.

'_Jedi only make things worse.' Every day_ was the same, wake, drink barely enough water, one meal a day, shovel, beatings, yelling, crying, then sleeping. Listening to the soft moans of pain of the people she had failed around her. Esinon stayed on her side to stop from hurting her aching back more, she missed her bed on the _Negotiator, _sure it wasn't the most comfortable bed in the galaxy but at least it wasn't made of steel. She let out a weak cough at the constant smell of smog, it was like a constant nightmare or migraine, she decided a migraine was worse. She could wake up from a nightmare, she jumped when someone slipped into her bed. She whipped around to see it was only Rex, she sighed scooting closer to him. He tapped a message on her shoulder,

'_Ok?'_ she shook her head deciding not to lie to him. He'd be able to tell the difference anyway. She fingerspelled against his forearm,

'_Stay alive,' _he nodded in agreement, it was comforting to have someone next to her. She finally closed her eyes, starting to feel a little safer. She finally drifted off into sleep.

* * *

Two weeks, if she had to make a guess. It was blurry, the day was finally over, her hands bleeding from blisters rubbed from continually shoveling scoop, after scoop, after scoop of coal. What the purpose was she didn't know, and she didn't much care, she was more focused on staying alive. She and Rex were currently stumbling back towards their beds, looking forward to sleeping.

"You." The Zygerrians pointed at Esinon, "Come with us," After all that had happened today, she knew that if she disagreed, more colonists would be hurt, Rex, had other plans.

"You're not taking her anywhere," he snarled, jumping protectively in front of the young girl. Instantly three electro-staffs were at his neck.

"No!" Esinon cried, "Don't hurt him! Please! I'll come with you." she said, the Zygerrian grabbed her arm and roughly wrenched her away from the Captain.

"General, no! You can't!" Rex pleaded, she gently touched his gauntlet,

"I'll be ok, I promise," she said softly, she knew she wouldn't be, but whatever it took to keep Rex safe.

* * *

It felt like hours that the torture had lasted. She was alone, ankle shackled to the wall, they didn't break her. They never would. But she could feel hot tears dripping down her face. She wanted all the pain to end, she wanted to go to sleep and never wake up again. Dooku knew she was here, no doubt he and Queen Miraj were in cohorts. The Zygerrians had been asking for information about the Republic, cruiser movements, battle strategies, everything. Even though she hadn't broken into giving information, she felt broken, she looked broken.

She stared at her reflection in a puddle of water that formed under a leaky pipe. Her eyes looked… dull. Guess she didn't deserve the nickname bright eyes anymore. She stared at her bruised and battered face, dried cuts and blood everywhere, dirt and ash, and her hair was messy, sweaty, and greasy. She attempted to give herself a weak smile, but she couldn't even muster it. Instead, she curled up in a corner of the cell and went to sleep. Screams haunted her nightmares.

* * *

The next time Rex saw Esinon he didn't recognize her at first, but then remembered she was the only human, well near human in this facility. She looked awful, he didn't probe about it, he knew she wasn't ok. For whatever reason, both of them were being moved again, more work? Or did the Zygerrians plan to sell their prized slaves? Guards stood behind them, electro-staffs ignited. The door slid open and Esinon gasped as the air conditioning of the office hit her. It had been weeks since she'd felt cold air. The guards prodded them forward and both of them stumbled down the stairs until they landed on their knees in front of Keeper Argus. Esinon glared up at him, her face twisting into a snarl.

"Someone wishes to speak to you," he said, his repulsor chair floated out of the way of a transmitter and Count Dooku appeared.

"Esinon Windcaster," he said cooly, raising his eyebrow in a degrading manner, "In chains once again I see," she scoffed,

'_Real funny,' _

"Count Dooku, still afraid to get your hands dirty?" she snarled,

I would gladly make an exception in your case since I can't kill your Master, I would love to kill you," he replied, Esinon let out a low growl, she was gonna be the one to kill him and end this war. "I wanted to say a proper farewell before Keeper Agruss puts you to death. Agruss smiled darkly, rubbing his hands together. Esinon's stomach flipped. This was it.

"Keeper," a guard said, "The slave ship Tecora is making an unscheduled landing on platform two-four,"

"Skywalker," Dooku snarled, something exploded outside,

'_Yes Anakin! Esinon Windaster is gonna live to fight another day!' _she cheered mentally, Dooku turned back to Esinon.

"Windcaster, tell your mentor if he does not surrender, the slaves will be terminated in his name." Esinon scowled at him trying to hide her fear. There were still thousands of Togruta she could save, they could save. She wouldn't let them die. A transmitter blinked next to her, and she could see Anakin.

"Anakin! I'm glad to see you," she said, "but I'm afraid our hosts feel otherwise,"

"Well you can't please everyone Speedy," he replied, continuing to cut through the door. Esinon sighed, deciding to cut straight to the point,

"Anakin, they're threatening to kill the Togruta if you don't surrender," she said,

"Well it's nice to see you're taking on the mantle of Negotiator but I'm done bargaining with slavers," he growled,

"Anakin please, you have to realize that you can't win this fight alone,"

"Who said I was alone?" he smirked,

"Keeper!" a guard shouted, "Warships just dropped out of hyperspace in sector six!"

"Jedi reinforcements," Agruss snarled, Esinon's once dead com crackled to life on her wrist,

"Wolf Leader to Wolf pack, accelerate to attack speed," Master Plo ordered over the coms,

"This is Xavier, we're going in!" The whole facility shook,

"Rex! Now!" she shouted, adrenaline pumping through her veins as she used the force to crush both of their collars,

"It's about time!" the Captain exclaimed, with a big grin on his face. She flipped behind her captors, getting her wrists in front of her body. She whapped her hands into a guard's head with some help from the force. She dodged three blaster bolts, whipping her hands up and the last bolt sliced straight through her cuffs. She tackled a guard, throwing him into another, grabbing a blaster off the floor and injuring both of them. She looked up at beeping and saw Agruss messing with a control panel, the Togruta!

"No!" she shouted, Agruss smirked, smashing the panel over and over with his meaty fist, she scrambled over to the controls but it was too late. Agruss cackled,

"The controls are destroyed Master Plo," Esinon said into the comlink, "There's nothing we can do from down here,"

"I cannot move the cruiser in for the rescue operation until these enemy cannons are destroyed."

"We'll take care of those controls, Master Plo!" Anakin called, "You focus on getting the cruiser down to the landing platform, we are running out of time!"

"Incoming!" Rex shouted as five more guards entered the office. Esinon ran and dove behind the control pod as a guard fired off several rounds at her. The guard attempted to creep up on her but she threw him with the force, she called her lightsaber into her hand igniting the blade. Agruss smirked at her,

"Come now General Windaster, a Jedi won't kill an unarmed man," he smirked, an electro staff flew through the room impaling Agruss.

"I'm no Jedi," Rex growled, his chest puffing. His repulsor chair spun and he crashed straight into the controls,

"We gotta go now," Esinon said, Rex nodded as they sprinted towards the entrance of the facility. They met up with Anakin halfway,

"There's a gunship waiting outside for us," he reported, Esinon nodded forcing herself to keep running at top speed for a human as a shiver ran up her spine. All of sudden she was really, really cold, and tired, so tired. She didn't feel good, she felt worse than she had her whole time on Kadavo. They skidded to a halt into the waiting gunship, Esinon gripped the strap tightly, trying to stay on her feet. As soon as the gunship lurched towards the waiting cruiser, Anakin eased her against a few crates. "Easy Speedy," She gave a huff, her breathing starting to become very labored. It was really hard to breathe all of a sudden. Anakin wiggled a glove off, pressing his hand to the back of her forehead, he then checked her neck, she was warm to the touch. She leaned into his touch, his fingers were nice and warm and she was really cold. "Gah you're burning up," he murmured,

"I'm cold," she whined, by then Rex had also slid down against the crates gratefully accepting a canteen of water from a Wolf pack member.

"You've got a fever Esinon," her brow scrunched, now that she thought about it she had been really cold and shivery last night.

"I don't feel good," she murmured,

"We're gonna get you to a medic soon," Anakin promised, she nodded, tiredly resting her head against the crates. Anakin turned his attention to his Captain, "how are you feeling Rex?"

"To be honest, terrible, but not as bad as she feels."

"They target her?" he asked, as far as Anakin could tell she wasn't listening to their conversation. Rex nodded,

"They took her last night, I don't know what they did to her, but she came back like that," he said, Anakin sighed, gently brushing sweaty hair out of Esinon's face.

"Just hang on a little longer Speeds,"

* * *

Patience. Fives had never been good at patience, he was trying, but it was taking all of his willpower to not pace the floor. The ARC stood in the hangar tapping his foot against the durasteel,

"You ok?" Tup asked, noticing his incessant foot-tapping, Fives glanced at the shiny, well… after Umbara, no one was shiny anymore.

"Just getting impatient, they were supposed to be here ten minutes ago," Fives said, glancing at his comlink for the umpteenth time.

"Well, with General Skywalker, sometimes things can go off schedule." Tup joked, trying to get Fives distracted from his increasing nervousness,

"You're not wrong, you're catching on quick." he said, a fleeting smile crossing his face, shouting filled the hangar as attendants raced past them, "What going on?" Fives asked, catching the arm of a trooper,

"General Skywalker's back, with a whole lot of people," he replied, running off, Tup and Fives glanced at each other before following after the trooper, the _Twilight _landed, and gunship after gunship did as well, it seemed the stream of ships and people were never going to end. Togruta and soldiers flooded the arena, making it difficult to find his little sister and his captain. The seas finally parted where he could see the frail figure of Esinon, and Rex next to her, Ahsoka was currently supporting Rex, and Xavier supporting Esinon. Fives ran over, Tup close on his tail,

"Hello Fives," Esinon said, weakly, smiling up at him, her ribs stuck out from underneath her tunic, well what was left of it anyways. The shredded cloth barely covered her body, and her face was covered in bruises and dried blood that stuck out even more against her pale skin. She was shivering, clutching Xavier tightly, trying to find warmth. Fives clenched his fist as anger swelled up inside of him, how could someone be so cruel? She wasn't even an adult, it hurt him to see her so fragile.

"General," was all he managed to get out,

"Alright, let's get you to the medbay," Xavier said,

"Xavier!" Esinon flinched slightly at the shout of Master Plo. The way her eyes were constantly shifting for any signs of danger, made his heart ache,

"I can take her to the medbay sir," Fives offered,

"Thank you Fives, and make sure she gets there and stays there," Xavier said, knowing his friend's hate of the medbay.

"Yes sir," he replied, taking Esinon from Xavier, as soon as the zabrak had disappeared, Fives scooped her up into his arms, he grunted in surprise at the ease to pick her up. It felt like she weighed nothing more than a small tooka. She gave a soft smack to his chest plate,

"I can walk just fine Fives," she mumbled,

"Sure," he replied, she didn't object any further and rested her head against his chest. "Come on Tup," Fives didn't like the feeling of her ribs against his hand, the poor thing had been starved half to death, yet she looked thinner than all of the others around him. Had she been starved further than the others? A terrifying thought crossed his mind, her metabolism. That's why she had lost so much weight, on a normal day she had to consume about 8,000 calories, under the conditions of Zygerria, that was probably never met. The two troopers soon made their way into the medbay, setting her down on a table, where a team of medics swarmed her. Fives edged his past them, pulling a blanket around Esinon's shoulders. He didn't like how exposed she looked. By now Esinon was panting. "Stay with her Tup," Fives instructed,

"I will," he replied, the ARC leaving to find Kix. The medic was currently tending to a brother who had been injured in battle,

"Kix, I'm sorry to interrupt, but General Windcaster-"

"Say no more, Harvest!" Kix shouted, the trainee medic came running in,

"Yes sir?"

"Finish checking him over, I've got work to do." he instructed, handing the young trooper his datapad, "Any idea how bad it is?" he asked, as he followed Fives back to where Tup was waiting,

"Well… it'd be easier if you just come see." Curses in Mando'a, basic, and togruta- probably Commander Tano's doing- slipped out of Kix's mouth the moment he saw Esinon. She was still sitting right where Fives had left her, where medics were checking her vitals, she wasn't saying much, keeping her answers short, and eyes on her hands in her lap. Kix frowned at the sight of her shivering violently, he pulled off his glove, gently pressing his hands on her neck and forehead.

"Get a blood test ready," Kix said, his voice rising a bit, "Someone get me blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen, get it prepped." Fives's stomach churned,

"Kix… what's wrong?" he asked slowly,

"Tup, go get General Skywalker, now," Kix ordered, Fives's panic rose higher, as Tup ducked out.

"Kix what's going on?"

"It could be nothing, but-" he cut himself off as a medic ran over,

"Sir she's ninety over sixty," the assistant medic reported, Kix growled, to himself, Esinon looked around blearily until her eyes fell on Fives.

"Fives, I'm cold," she whimpered,

"I know Taz," he said, coming over to stand at her side as another medic began drawing blood, while another was helping Esinon out of the remains of her tunic and Kix inspected the wounds on her back. "But Kix is gonna fix you, right?" he asked, glancing over at his medic brother to get some sort of reaffirmation that Esinon was fine, but he didn't answer. Esinon shuddered again, hugging her arms around her bruised abdomen.

"Heart Rate is at 130 beats per minute!" a medic called from in front of Esinon, Fives's started to get antsier. That wasn't good.

"Blood test came back, it's high," another one reported, a dark look fell over Kix's face. What was high? Moments later General Skywalker appeared with Tup,

"Talk to me Kix," he said,

"Medics, get her transferred into a bed, clean the wounds as best you can, and stay with her." Kix ordered, they all gave him a quick salute as Kix pushed them all outside the medbay, away from Esinon where she couldn't hear them.

"Kix," Anakin said, using his General tone.

"We need to get to a medical station now," Kix said, swiping through a few things on a datapad, Fives's stomach dropped. "She's got sepsis, and I don't have the equipment to treat her here. If we don't hurry, she'll go into Septic shock and all of her organs will fail. You're listed as one of her legal guardians along with General Fisto, I need you to sign off on a couple of surgeries, for later."

"Kix, slow down," Anakin said, a little shocked,

"General," Kix snapped, "She needs to be in an intensive care unit immediately. I don't have the special types of antibiotics to treat it on the cruiser. Clones can't get sepsis normally because of our heightened immune systems. She'll need to go into surgery later to take care of the mess of infected flesh on her back, and she needs a g-tube there is no way she can get her weight back without one." Anakin rubbed his hands together uncomfortably, he'd had to do this for Ahsoka before but never for Esinon. This had always been Obi-Wan's territory, but Anakin was listed as one of Esinon's legal guardians.

"Are these two seperate surgeries or will you do both at once?" Anakin asked,

"It depends on how stable we can get her before we go into the operating room. The priority is to take care of the infected flesh first, then the g-tube but I'll tell you when we get her more stable." Anakin nodded,

"Ok, I'm gonna contact Admiral Yularen and then can you explain all of this to me?" he asked, Kix nodded,

"Of course General," Anakin disappeared around the corner to contact Admiral Yularen in a more private setting, "I need to go explain all of this to General Windcaster," Kix murmured,

"It should be me," Fives said quietly, "She'll probably take it best from me, that'll be one of her first surgeries since General Kenobi's death."

"Ok," Kix said softly,

"So infected skin removal and a g-tube?" he asked, Kix nodded. Fives nodded, it felt like he could feel his face going pale. A trainee medic led Fives to where Esinon was staying, they had cleaned her up and put her in a hospital gown. She looked tiny under all of the machines, she was shivering on top of the covers since the medics were probably trying to get her fever down. She blinked her eyes blearily, sensing him coming into the room. Fives could see bandages poking out from underneath the hospital gown.

"Fives?" she whispered, rolling over to face him, "What's happening?" Fives sat down on the edge of her bed, running a hand down her thin shoulder.

"I need to explain a couple of things, ok?"

"I want my blanket back," she whimpered,

"They've gotta get your fever down," he said softly, Fives wanted to cry at how small and strained she sounded. "Esinon you have what's called sepsis, which means you have an infection. We're headed to the medical station now to get you on antibiotics and eventually into surgery. They've gotta remove the infected skin on your back, and give you a g-tube." Fives expected crying or yelling, or a laugh of denial, but he wasn't prepared for nothing. She didn't move, the only noise that filled the room was the beeping of her heart monitor, it was still beeping abnormally fast. Esinon gave a weak huff, wrinkling her nose at the oxygen tube underneath her nostrils.

"I'm not going," she murmured, rolling back over so her back was to him.

"Esinon, you don't really have a choice. This is important, they're trying to save your life," he said, Esinon shook her head,

"No. I'm done. I'm not going." she said weakly, but firmly, "no more poking, no more prodding, no more pain, I'm done." Fives's heart clenched, reading in between the lines and understanding what she meant.

"Esinon, please," he could see tired tears slipping from her eyes, there was no sobbing or wailing. She'd given up, she didn't have the strength to go on. "Talk to me," he grasped her hand, her small and frail fingers became engulfed in his own. "Why don't you want to go to surgery? The pain will stop if you get help."

"No it won't," she whispered, "I'll get released after weeks of recovery and then shoved back onto the front lines and do it all over again. I'm done Fives, I'm just not gonna get better this time."

"C' mere," he said, gently tugging on her hand. Esinon finally pulled herself up and crawled into Fives's lap. He carefully wrapped his arms around her, she instantly pressed her body up against his, looking for warmth as she continued to shiver.

"I don't want to be a soldier anymore," she whimpered, Fives gently rocked her back and forth, trying to comfort his little sister. For only a moment he tensed up, she had _never _referred to herself as a soldier. Always a peacekeeper. What had changed? "Why did Obi-Wan have to die?" that was why. Her guidance was gone, but what Fives didn't know is that Esinon had finally come to terms with her involvement in the war. She wasn't a peacekeeper. She never was. "I need him. I want him back, this wouldn't have happened if Obi-Wan was still here."

"It's gonna be ok, I'll be here when you go under and when you wake up," he whispered, even though she was shivering he could feel the heat radiating off her body, she was so feverish. Fives was going to make those Zygerrians pay.

"Promise?" she whispered,

"The whole way,"

* * *

"Alright Commander, you've got some electrical burns, but some bacta should take care of that. Lots of fluids and carbs, try and take care of the malnutrition." Kix instructed, Ahsoka gave a nod and looked up when the blast door slid open to her Master. He looked exhausted, more exhausted than normal. Ahsoka gently probed at their bond, and he gave her a little reaffirmation nudge.

"Kix, we're about twenty minutes out from the medical station," he said, "Esinon's sleeping, Fives is with her. A trainee said that her temperature about the same, hasn't gone down at all but it hasn't gone up which is good."

"I'm gonna go call ahead to have them get the antibiotics and an operating room ready," Kix said, Anakin nodded as the medic hurriedly ducked out. Ahsoka glanced up at her Master,

"What's wrong with Esinon?" she asked, Anakin dragged a hand down his face.

"Esinon's got sepsis," he said, sitting down on the bed next to his padawan,

"But she's gonna be fine, right?" Ahsoka asked, her anxiety starting to stir.

"We don't know Snips, but Kix is doing everything he can," Ahsoka let out a shuddered sigh as Anakin wrapped an arm around her.

"I don't want to lose her too" she whispered,

"I know Snips, I know."

* * *

"Count backward from ten," Kix whispered quietly, Esinon took a deep breath as the anesthesia was placed over her nose and mouth.

Ten

_The room started to slightly blur as her eyes became heavier, _

Nine

_She swore she could see the stars in the operating room's ceiling. _

Eight

_She missed the stars _

Seven

_She watched the stars swirling in the sky, they were beautiful_

Six

_She could hear someone humming, a familiar melody. _

Five

_A song Obi-Wan used to sing when she was younger. _

Four

_I wanna be where the talk of the town is about last night when the sun went down. Yeah, and the trees all dance and the warm wind blows in the same old town. And the water below gives a gift to the sky and the clouds give it back every time they cry. _

Three

_Make the grass grow green beneath my toes and if the sun comes out I'll paint a picture about all the colors I've been dreamin' of _

Two

_The hours just don't seem enough to put it all together, maybe it's just as strange as it seems. And the trouble I find is that the trouble finds me. It's a part of my mind. It begins with a dream, and the feelin' I get when I look and I see that the world is a puzzle. _

One

_Find all of the pieces, and put it all together, then I'll rearrange it, I'll follow it forever, and it'll always be as strange as it seems. _

* * *

Korkie tapped his foot impatiently as he spaced out in class. Two weeks. It had been two kriffin' weeks since Esinon's capture had been broadcasted from Zygerria. They hadn't pronounced her dead… yet. He shoved that unsure part of his mind away, and desperately tried to focus on the remainders of the lesson.

'_Only a few more minutes,' _he thought to himself, it was a struggle to focus ever since Esinon had been taken. He knew she did dangerous stuff like this all the time but, it didn't stop him from worrying anyway. The bell finally rang, and Korkie packed up his stuff. '_Just keep moving,'_ He barely made it a few steps down the hallway before he was stopped by the Headmaster,

"Cadet Kryze, the Duchess has come to collect you," she said, Korkie cocked his head,

"Outside?" he asked, she nodded, Korkie headed out towards the front of the school where his Aunt was waiting.

"Hello Korkie," she greeted,

"Aunt Satine, is something wrong?" he asked,

"Come on, we can talk about it on the way back to the palace," she said, already climbing back into the speeder, Korkie followed after her. "As you know, there is a medical station orbiting Mandalore. Esinon's been recovered, she's currently there."

"Can we go?" Korkie blurted, Satine smiled,

"Yes, that's why I pulled you from school, there's a ship waiting for you."

"Just me?" he asked slowly,

"Someone has to stay here and rule our system," she said with a soft chuckle,

"Are you sure Aunt Satine?" he asked,

"Yes, she is your best friend and I've seen how worried you are about her. So go, I'll be fine."

* * *

Korkie collected his things, finally sitting down in the cockpit of his ship. The medical station above Mandalore was neutral, so he had no need to worry, and Aunt Satine said that General Skywalker was expecting his arrival. Sometimes he wondered if Aunt Satine knew about him and Esinon, she probably did, but she had a thing with General Kenobi. Korkie had vague memories of playing tag with a dirty-blond haired man when he was a little kid. He sat down in the cockpit, just as he was about to pull out of the hanger his transmitter buzzed. A voicemail popped up on his communicator, marked Esinon. He hurriedly opened it.

"Hi Korkie!" her voice exclaimed, his name came out all slurred. What kind of meds did they have her on? "Call me, I wanna see you," she said, she gave a huffy breath, "but don't call me 'cause I just got out of surgery n 'm really tired. You shouldn't worry though, I'm fineeeee." Korkie chuckled, "Call me though! 'Cause you're really cuteee, and I wanna see your fluffy little hair. If you ever got a haircut I think I'd have to break up with you. That's a lie. Anyways… call me when you get this. Actually don't, 'cause Fives is gonna be hovering. He's a helicopter brother, so text me. Ok, 'm really tired, I'm 'nna take a nap. Love youuuuu. Oh also your hair smells so good. Bye." The transmitter clicked, Korkie sat in the co-pilot's seat with a dopey smile on his face.

'_I have the best girlfriend ever,'_

* * *

Esinon blinked her eyes open from her post-surgery nap. Her brain still felt foggy from the anesthesia, surgery hadn't been so bad. She felt less crappy, but that was probably due to the number of antibiotics, bacta and painkillers she was on. There were a lot of machines attached to her body. She vaguely remembered calling Korkie, he hadn't picked up but she heard someone say something concerning the medical station and it orbiting Mandalore. She couldn't remember. She glanced over at the nightstand where a few pairs of sweats were stacked along with a holo transmitter. She called it into her hand using the force, turning it only and scrolling through some notifications.

_Rex: I'm gonna be ok, Kix said that a little while more in the bacta tank and I should be fine. I had to get some stitches too, and then splinted my arm from when I broke it during the fight in the office. Anyways, hope ya feel better kid. _

_Fives: Went to go check on Tup, should be back soon. _

_Missed Call: Dogma _

_Voicemail: Dogma_

She clicked on the voicemail and raised the transmitter to her ear,

"Hey General! We heard that you got recovered and we just wanted to say hi!" Dogma exclaimed,

"Hi Princess Esinon!" Shaeeah added,

"We love you!" Jekk shouted,

"Get lots of rest kid," Cut reminded,

"And lots of fluids!" Suu shouted from somewhere in the background.

"Feel better General," She smiled softly as the transmission ended, Dogma would make sure to call her. But what did he mean, he knew she had been recovered? There was no way he could have known she was captured. Esinon was too disoriented to be overly concerned with it at the moment, she scrolled down a little further.

_Missed call: Unknown _

_Anakin: Should be in in a little while, they needed to give me an exam too, but I assume Fives is with you. _

_Ahsoka: u awake yet? _

_Korkie: Got your voicemail, glad you like my fluffy hair. I should be at the medical station in about an hour. Love you _

How in the name of the force did Korkie know she was in a medical station. She wanted answers. She was about to text Dogma when her transmitter started buzzing with an incoming call. She didn't recognize the frequency but answered anyway because maybe someone needed something.

"Hello?" she asked, rubbing her eyes as another wave of tiredness washed over her.

"Hey kid,"

"Slick?" she asked, she couldn't tell if she was making a mistake of some other clone or-

"Actually- uh, most people call me Amos now," he replied, she grunted as she shifted in her bed.

"You changed your name?"

"Mhmm," he replied, "My squad didn't like me that much, and my name was another way to be permanently mean to me- sorry about that tangent," he muttered, Esinon rubbed a thumb along her brow,

"'S ok, my brain's fuzzy anyways. Anesthesia's a killer." she murmured, "I just got out of surgery a couple hours ago,"

"Yeah you weren't looking good in that recording," Slick- now Amos replied, his voice wavering a bit.

"Yeah, that's part I don't understand. How does everyone know I was captured? That's not public knowledge. I've gotten similar calls from Dogma and another one of my… friends." she said,

"Kid, it was broadcasted to half the galaxy. When that nasty Queen announced you as a 'special guest'. Then the whole fight broke out and-"

"I know Amos, I was there," she grumbled, pulling the blanket around her tighter. Kix had only let her have a thin one back since she still had a fever technically. Esinon groaned, she now remembered holo-cams circling her on the platform. "Great, now half the galaxy got to see what an epic failure I am."

"You're not a failure kid, you got overwhelmed, but you're out now." Esinon sighed,

"Yeah I guess, so have you found work? Are you still on Saleucami or are you on a different planet?"

"I'm actually on Alderaan working as an elementary teacher," he replied, Esinon grinned,

"I never thought of you as a teacher Amos," she joked, he gave a huff,

"I'm a lot of things I never thought I would be,"

"Have you called Dogma yet?"

"Mhmm, we talked this morning. He seems really happy with Cut," he said, Esinon gave a happy sigh,

"Dogma called this afternoon, whole Lawquane family was with him. I only listened to the voicemail since he called me during the nap I was taking," she said, giving a chuckle and then grimacing at the tightness in her chest.

"Well I just wanted to call and check-in, but I'll let you get some rest," Amos said, she nodded,

"Ok, thank you for calling,"

"'Course kid,"

"Bye Amos,"

"Bye Esinon," the transmitter clicked, she put the back of her hand to her forehead, she still felt hot, but the chills were still racking her body. She dropped her hand to her abdomen and felt something hard, her eyes went wide. She tugged up her hospital gown to find a big white patch over the right side of her abdomen, she poked it again. She knew she probably shouldn't have, but she tore the bandage off and found a hard piece of plastic attached to her abdomen. What was that? She wanted it gone! Just as she was about to try and figure out what this thing was, Fives walked into the room.

"Taz, you're awake! How do you feel?" his stomach dropped at the panic in her eyes.

"Fives? What is this?" she whispered, his eyes drifted down to the g-tube in her abdomen. "Fives?"

"It's a g-tube Esinon,"

"I want it gone," she snapped, already starting to study it to find a way of removing it, Fives grabbed the white bandage patch that Esinon had abandoned on the edge of the bed.

"It's attached to your intestines Esinon, you can't remove it unless you go into surgery," Fives said, pushing her hands away and reapplying the patch.

"Why'd they put it on me?" she shouted, Fives sighed,

"Because of your metabolism, we have to get your weight back up," he explained, Esinon's chin began to quiver.

"I don't want it," she whimpered, Fives gently pulled her into a hug,

"It's gonna help, you'll be ok," she let out a small breath, still feeling feverish and exhausted. She just wanted to be done, but the galaxy needed her from something. She just couldn't figure out what the something was yet.

* * *

"I swear one day you're going to be more scar than woman," an all too familiar voice teased,

"Korkie?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper, "How did you-"

"Doesn't really matter, does it?" he asked, closing the door behind him. He sat down on her bed, careful not to jostle her too much. "How are you feeling?"

"Alright," she mumbled, she grabbed onto his arm and Korkie helped her into a somewhat sitting position. "Ow,"

"Sorry," Korkie said quietly, she glanced from him to her aching body.

"You didn't do anything," she replied, she'd been a little blunt with all of the constant medication she was on. Her brain was so foggy, she didn't process the whole 'being gentle' thing.

"I- uh..." Korkie tapered off, no sure exactly what to say next. He didn't want her to know about all of his worry, she didn't need any of that right now. He needed to be there for her, not the other way around. Esinon let out a huffy breath, her brow furrowing. She squinted at him, studying his face, she couldn't recognize him. What Esinon didn't realize was that this was going to be one of her many fever-induced sepsis spells.

"Who are you?" she asked, uncomfortably scooting away from him. Korkie cocked his head confusedly,

"Esinon, it's me- Korkie," she shifted again,

"I don't know you," she said quietly, before he could react a blast of the force hit him and he was sent skidding to the ground. Esinon's fingers clearly fidgeting for a weapon that wasn't there, "Who are you." She demanded. Korkie slowly rose to his feet, holding his hand up in a placating gesture.

"Esinon, it's me, Korkie! Your-" he cut himself off, knowing there were security cameras in the room. He couldn't risk anyone finding out, for both their sakes.

"Tell me now!" She shouted, she held up her hand threateningly. Suddenly, the medbay door burst open and Fives was standing in the doorway. His eyes flicked from Esinon to Korkie in confusion, recognizing the Mandalorian Prince but was wondering what he was doing here. His attention was quickly drawn back to Esinon, when she trained a hand on him, leaving the other on Korkie."Who are you?" she snarled,

"Esinon, listen to me," Fives said, "It's me, Fives," he discreetly pressed the button to signal a medic to come. "We are your friends."

"I don't know you," She repeated, her foggy brain trying desperately trying to catch up. Trying to figure out what was happening. Fives paused, he had to give her something that only the two of them would remember. Kix showed up a moment later but Fives held out his hand for him to wait.

"Esinon," he said, slowly walking towards her. "Do you remember when you were on Kamino and I called you after Echo died." Esinon started to lower her hands, "And Hardcase walked into the barracks to repaint his kit-"

"And he tripped, spilling paint all over you," she whispered, Fives nodded,

"That's right, and we both looked at each other and cracked up,"

"And then remembered we weren't supposed to." Esinon finished, her hands falling back into her lap, blinking her eyes.

"There we go, can I come closer?" he asked, Esinon nodded and Fives made his way over to her and embraced her.

"What happened to me?" she whispered, peeking out from Fives's arms to see Korkie's concerned face. Kix walked over,

"Sepsis can induce fever spells which can cause delirium and hallucinations,"

"So it's gonna keep happening?" Fives asked slowly, Kix nodded, giving the pair a sympathetic look. Esinon let out a small groan as if her situation wasn't bad enough. Let's add not being able to recognize people, she took a deep breath.

"Unfortunately there's nothing we can do to help until the fever breaks these will keep happening sporadically," Kix explained, Esinon bit the inside of her cheek to force down a whimper. Fives gently tightened his grip on her,

"It's gonna be ok Taz," he murmured, "We're gonna get through this,"

"Ok," she whispered, her voice cracking. She hated how weak she sounded- how weak she felt. After a few more minutes, Fives let her go,

"I need to talk to Tup, but I'll be back in a little bit, ok?" Esinon nodded, sitting back in her bed and running tired hands down her face. Fives and Kix both disappeared, leaving Esinon and Korkie alone.

"I'm sorry," Esinon choked out, Korkie carefully came closer, placing a hand on her knee.

"It's ok, you didn't do anything wrong,"

"But I could have done something way worse," she whimpered, Korkie gently embraced her as she clutched the back of his tunics and let herself cry.

"Shh," he soothed, "It's alright, I've got you," he rested his chin on top of her head, eventually Esinon's tears stopped and she drifted off to sleep. Korkie carefully shifted them so that Esinon was curled up in his side, he took a deep breath, closing his eyes. He knew what he was getting into when he started a relationship with Esinon. Well... he didn't think there would be slavery involved, but no doubt- this was not going to be their last time in med bays.

* * *

"When was the last time you slept?" Tup asked as Fives flopped his head down on a mess room table. It had been three days since the slaves had been recovered. Tup knew that Fives hadn't been sleeping much since Esinon disappeared. Plagued by nightmares… scarily accurate nightmares. And Tup doubted the ARC had been sleeping period since the young General had returned.

"Who keeps track of that?" the ARC murmured,

"Fives," Tup chided,

"Esinon needs attention and care right now," he mumbled, resting his hands underneath his chin.

"And the medics can't provide that?" Tup asked, Fives had barely left Esinon alone. Something had obviously shaken him, other than the fact that she had been a slave and all that.

"She's relapsing Tup." he whispered quietly, "She's got a new infection, Kix is worried she'll go chronic, that if she doesn't die, she won't be the same ever again. Like constant medications, pain, and repulsor chairs. Her feverish spells have gotten worse, she can't recognize anybody anymore. She keeps asking for Obi-Wan, and the stars."

"The stars?" Tup repeated, his stomach doing backflips. He did not want to lose Esinon, after everything, he couldn't. He couldn't imagine how Fives was feeling, he'd known Esinon since she was twelve. Fives nodded,

"Yeah, she says she misses them. It's a lot of vomiting and whining that she's cold, which to her she is but she's burning a fever of 102."

"She misses the stars," Tup murmured,

"You're missing the important part of this conversation," Fives said frustratedly,

"Sorry, I need to go talk to that Prince that's here," he said, "Uh- go take a nap," Fives grumbled something to himself before dragging himself up from the table and hopefully towards his quarters. Tup sprinted to his quarters, flipping up his mattress and grabbing a small satchel that held credits he had collected from various jobs he had done and sprinted back down towards the hanger and awkwardly skidded to a halt in front of that Mandalorian Prince.

"Trooper," he greeted, Tup saluted him,

"Highness," The Prince squinted at him for a moment, studying his face.

"You're Tup, right? Esinon talks about you," he said, "I'm Korkie," Tup was stunned for a moment, this Prince actually knew his name.

"Uh- yes sir, I came to ask if you are returning to Mandalore and coming back?"

"Yes, I need a few… supplies, I will be coming back," he said, Tup held out the bag of credits.

"I was wondering if I could make a request sir? For General Windcaster sir," Korkie smiled softly, closing Tup's hand around the credits.

"I'll pay for it, whatever it is," he said, Tup quickly explained what he wanted to do and the smile spread across Korkie's face. "Of course Tup, I'd be happy to bring those back." Tup smiled in relief,

"Thank you sir," Korkie nodded before climbing on his ship.

* * *

Esinon feverishly blinked her eyes open as she heard something creak in her room. She gave a small huff as she felt how her body was so stiff and sore.

'_I need more painkillers,' _she thought blearily after her fuzzy vision finally came into focus. She saw someone standing in the corner of her room, a clone, maybe? She couldn't tell, and she didn't know why Obi-Wan wasn't coming to visit her. He always visited her. Fives kept saying that Obi-Wan wasn't here anymore, but that couldn't be right. The figure moved again, tapping something on the wall. She could see blue stripes, '_Blue means 501st. I think. I want my legion to be blue.' _She started to circulate through people she knew in the 501st, '_Fives, but his armor is funny, Jesse- no. I don't know… Dogma? He's gone, I think? Echo… Sharkbait? That seems right. But why is he here?' _

"Sharkbait?" she asked hoarsely, "What are you doing here?" Tup turned to Esinon, smiling sadly,

"No General, it's Tup. Sharkbait… died, remember?" he asked, walking over to her bed. "Can you recognize me?" She blinked a couple of times, slowly reaching out and touching his glove trying to sense who he was. All force signatures were blurring together, she scrunched her forehead in concentration. After a moment she finally settled on Tup's force signature, she nodded.

"Tup, can you bring Obi-Wan to me?" she asked quietly, Tup sucked a harsh breath.

"I can't because General Kenobi died. He's been dead for a while now," Tup explained, she stared at him for a moment before focusing her attention on her feet.

"What about the stars? Are they gone too?" she grumbled,

"No, I actually brought them to you," he said with a bright grin. Tup flicked off the lights and Esinon was greeted with dozens of glow-in-the-dark stars, covering the ceiling and walls. "Your prince friend helped me," She smiled softly,

"Thank you Tup,"

"You're welcome… Esinon,"

* * *

**I MISS DELTA SQUAD *loud sobbing* **

**The song that Esinon heard is Talk of the Town by Jack Johnson. Yes it is from the movie Curious George because y'all know that Esinon would loveeeeee that movie**

**Two more chapters until Obi's back! **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: ****Esinon loves the song "My Way" by Frank Sinatra**

**Man, I love molding modern things into star wars **

**Thank you all for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	44. Recovery

**I just realized that I have over a hundred reviews! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! it means a lot that people are taking an interest in what I'm creating, so thank you! **

* * *

Fives rolled over on the small sleeping cot he had put in Esinon's room, he heard something creak and assumed it was just Esinon rolling over. He tried to ignore it and go back to sleep. He heard another creak and he rolled over, blinking his eyes open. Esinon shifted restlessly in her bed, whimpering softly. He sat up, glancing at the Chrono, it was almost 0300. Was she having another nightmare? Another spell? He stood up, gently placing the back of his hand to her forehead. She was still burning up, he grabbed a thermometer off the wall and scanned her temperature. His eyes went wide. 103. She was burning a temp of 103. He immediately pressed the button on the wall that would signal a medic to come and help. A few seconds later Kix skidded around the corner,

"What's wrong? What happened?" he asked, confusedly staring at Esinon and then the stars on her ceiling.

"Yeah, that's Tup- but she's burning a temperature of 103," Fives said, Kix flicked on the lights growling to himself, before heading into the fresher and grabbing a container filling it up with cold water from the bathtub. The increase in light caused Esinon to whine even more, tugging the blanket over her head. She was tired, in pain, feverish, and cold, she just wanted to be left alone.

"Wash clothes are top drawer on the left," he said, Fives nodded heading over to it and pulled out a multitude of wash clothes. Esinon let out a low groan as she rolled over again, tugging her blanket around her tighter. "Get that blanket away from her," Fives sighed, placing the wash clothes on her nightstand, gently tugging at the blanket that Esinon was white-knuckling.

"Esinon, you need to let go," he said softly, she whimpered, her shoulders trembling with shivers. "I know you're cold, but please let go." Esinon continued to tug against the covers in a fight against Fives. He sighed, deciding to resort to his last-ditch option. "I'll get Cody in here if you don't let go right this instant." Esinon instantly released the blankets. Fives smirked, rolling up the fabric and tossing it to the corner of the room. Fives knew Cody wasn't here but feverish Esinon didn't. Kix had already begun soaking wash clothes in the cold water, he placed one on her forehead, handing over one to Fives. Esinon curled into a tighter ball, her muscles clenching up at the cold objects, weakly trying to fight against them.

"Cold," she whined, weakly swatting at Fives's hands,

"I know I know, but this gonna help," she murmured something he couldn't make out as she continued to fight against the cold, at one point she did win, she used the force unknowingly, causing all the rags to come flying back at the two troopers faces. Fives sighed,

"Feisty as ever aren't we," Kix mumbled, getting back to work, she began to murmur, squirming restlessly,

"It's alright, you're safe," Fives soothed, it quieted the Jedi, but she didn't stop moving, after reapplying the rags for the umpteenth time, Kix let out a harsh breath.

"Her fever's safer...I'm gonna go grab some more acetaminophen," he mumbled, "I'll be back," Fives nodded as Esinon finally stilled on the mattress, realizing how warm she had actually been feeling.

"Taz, can you wake up for me please?" Fives whispered, running a hand down her shoulder. She blinked her eyes open,

"I wanna sleep Echo," she murmured, Fives sighed, sepsis was worse than he thought. He hated having his little sister not be able to recognize him.

"No Esinon, it's Fives, you need to take more medicine for your fever," he said, sitting down on the edge of her bed. She murmured something, scrunching her eyes shut again. "Come on Esinon, please, for me?" She grabbed his arm, pulling herself up and resting against his shoulder.

"Hurry up, 'm tired," she muttered, he sighed with a soft smile.

"Almost done," he murmured, "almost done," Kix soon returned with medicine and water.

"Here you go miracle, take this and you can go back to sleep." He handed over the medicine to Esinon which she took. Kix had begun calling her miracle ever since she came back from the dead. Esinon flopped back on the pillow, she tapped Fives's hand.

"I want my blanket back," she mumbled, Fives glanced up at Kix. He grabbed the thermometer and scanned her temperature before giving Fives the go-ahead to return her blanket. He did and Esinon instantly curled up,

"Call me if anything happens," Kix said, groggily running a hand down his face. Fives nodded,

"Get some sleep vod," Fives said, grabbing a chair from the corner of the room. He was too awake to sleep now. He grabbed the datapad he had next to his cot and decided to write some reports until he could get tired enough to go back to sleep. The soft glow of the stars and his datapad filled the room as he wrote. Esinon was quiet for the most part, except when she would roll over. Fives had noticed that Esinon had been a restless sleeper ever since she had gotten back but he only assumed that was because of the injuries on her back and the fact that she could have been attacked by guards at any moment. He was nearly through his fourth report when a loud gasp sounded from beside him. Esinon had curled in on herself, shrinking from something. Fives placed a comforting hand onto her forearm, "Shh, you're safe, I promise," nothing he said seemed to comfort her,

"No… no, please, please don't hurt them," she mumbled,

"It's alright Taz, no ones gonna hurt anyone," he whispered, as she continued to thrash in her nightmare, his heart growing heavier as the Jedi's cries and muffled screams didn't subside. Esinon finally seemed to calm, her chest heaving as she settled. Fives released her arm, returning back to his reports.

"Jedi…" she murmured, "Jedi… only make things…. worse." she muttered, tugging the blanket around herself tighter.

"Esinon," Fives whispered, sitting stiffly in his chair.

"...Jedi only make things worse…" she murmured again, her head shaking restlessly in her nightmare. She clenched her fists into her sheets, she blinked a couple of times, looking blearily at him. "Fives?" he snapped out of his stiffness,

"You're safe, I promise," he whispered, gently stroking her thin shoulder. She blinked her eyes a couple more times, leaning into his touch, latching herself onto his arm,

"Fives… don't let them hurt the people…it's my fault… it's all my fault," she whimpered,

"I won't," he whispered, his heart clenching with her every word, she clearly wasn't in reality, but at least she could recognize him, everything she had been put through, it just wasn't fair. Fives wished he could just take all the pain and suffering that she was experiencing right now. They sat like this for a few minutes, she laid still, clasping onto his arm, he thought she had fallen back asleep,

"C-cold," she murmured, snuggling underneath the blankets until they touched her nose,

"I know, but you won't be soon," he said,

"F-fives, cold," she whispered, "Obi-wan," the ARC glanced back over at her with the sudden name change, well, with the fever it wasn't uncommon. "D-don't go, Obi-Wan, I don't want to be alone." she whimpered again,

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna leave your side," he promised,

"Obi-Wan," she muttered again, tugging on his arm again, "Please Obi-wan," Fives remembered the first time Esinon had gotten a fever. For the entire week, she'd been pretty happy to attach onto any person she could get. She was extremely clingy when she was sick… maybe that was it. She needed physical grounding. Fives pushed Esinon gently over to the other side of the bed, climbing in it himself, letting the young girl curl up in his side, her body still tense, he gently rubbed her back, "Don't worry Taz, I got you." It wasn't long before she had drifted off into a deep sleep, Fives falling asleep not long after that. The siblings needed rest, and Esinon having someone to ground her, helped the force work it's magic far better than bacta ever could.

* * *

_Padme: I'm coming to the medical station before heading down to Mandalore for the negotiations_

_Anakin: I totally forgot about those, everything's been a bit of a mess up here _

_Padme: That's alright Ani, you focus on taking care of yourself, _

_Anakin: that's not who I need to take care of rn_

_Padme: My flight's almost done, and I'm coming to help_

_Padme: you can't stop me love_

_Anakin: I wouldn't try angel, _

* * *

A week had gone by, and it felt like a blur. Anakin had barely slept, there were too many meetings with Kix and the doctors and questions, and reports, and missed meals. His head hurt all of the time. Taking care of Ahsoka was one thing, but Esinon too, plus helping with Rex? It was a lot and he was trying to be the best Master he could be. Currently, he was frowning down at three different pill organizers.

"How do I even kriffin'-" he growled under his breath as he shifted his gaze from the bottles of pills to the files of flimsi in his other hand. At the moment he had completely forgotten that Padme was even coming, he was just trying to get everyone's medicine organized. He jumped when someone put a hand on his shoulder,

"Relax Ani, it's just me," Padme said, Anakin sighed,

"Sorry Mey," he muttered, kissing her on the temple,

"Tell me what's going on," she said softly, wrapping an arm around her husband's waist.

"Well, Esinon's relapsing- got a new infection and that's a whole new round of antibiotics on top of the sepsis ones. And Rex is relapsing and has got an infection or something. Kix says that they might need to give him a g-tube also because he can't keep anything down, neither can Esinon. They both have been throwing up all week, and Ahsoka needs dietary supplements. And-" he paused, dropping his head, "And I don't know what I'm doing," he murmured, Padme scooted in front of her husband embracing him fully. She gently ran his fingers through his hair as he buried his head in her shoulder. "I'm so tired Mey," he whimpered,

"You need to sleep Ani,"

"But I need to take care of everyone, I can't fail, not again," he whispered,

"You can't take care of others if you can't take care of yourself first." she murmured, he let out a shuddered breath. "I'll help you with this, then you're going to sleep," Anakin nodded weakly. Padme was right, he needed a break. Then again, she was usually right about everything. The couple set out to organize everyone's meds, and then Anakin got some much-needed rest.

* * *

Esinon let out a low growl as her hands continued to tremble,

"Why can't I kriffin'-" she grumbled, as she tried to attach the tube to her g-tube.

"Let me help," Fives said, she sighed, her fever had finally broken and Kix was walking lighter.

"Why won't my hands stop shaking," she murmured,

"Because one this makes you anxious, and I know it. You go pale just looking at the g-tube," Fives said, attaching the tube to the opening before grabbing the bag of liquidized food and sucking it into the syringe. He inserted the syringe into the tube and began to feed it into Esinon's body. She clenched her fists around her blanket, taking shaky deep breaths. "And two, your body is still exhausted, you need more rest."

"I don't," she muttered, "All I've been doing is sleeping,"

"And it will help you get stronger, ok? You need to take it easy, we don't want you to relapse again. We've only just gotten your fever to break," he said, Fives's voice wavering. She glanced at her brother,

"I know, but I want to see Rex. I want to get up and walk around, I don't want to be useless anymore." She murmured, Fives sighed, drawing more liquidized food into the syringe and returning to his task.

"I know, but you're of no use to anyone dead."

"I know,"

"Don't give up, we're in this together," he said, glancing up at her, smiling softly.

"Love you Fives," she murmured, starting to drift off asleep again.

"Love you too Taz," he whispered,

* * *

"You'll need to give these to Drummer, it's an updated list of all of her medication," Kix said, handing over a datapad to Cody as Esinon sat boredly in a repulsor chair. After almost two weeks she'd finally been released from the med station and she could go back to her cruiser. "No speedster anything," Esinon sighed, dragging a hand down her face,

"I know, I know," she replied, "Can I go back to my cruiser now please?"

"Yes," Kix said, handing over a bag of medications to Cody, who was already holding Esinon''s duffle bag. The Commander stared down at the pad and pills to his General. They were gonna have a heck of a time getting her back to full strength. Even staring at her, she looked so small in the repulsor chair, sweatshirt hanging loosely around her thin form. Kix leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Take it easy little miracle, ok?" Kix had started to call her miracle after she came back from the dead, she nodded.

"Thank you Kix, for everything," he gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before she moved her repulsor chair into a waiting ship.

"Have the men been alig-" before she could finish Cody had dropped to a knee and wrapped her up in a tight hug.

"Force I've been worried," he murmured, Esinon gave a tired sigh burying her head in her Commander's shoulder.

"'M sorry," she whispered,

"It's alright, I'm just glad you're back." Cody finally let her go as he started to prep the ship. Esinon grabbed the back of a chair and forced herself up, "Are you sure you-"

"I can walk," she said, "Just not that far," she mumbled, Esinon gave a tired sigh. "When is life gonna go back normal?"

"I don't know if it ever was General," Cody replied, as they began to pull out of the medical station hanger. Esinon chuckled,

"Yeah, have the men been alright?" she asked,

"Mhmm, just worried but we've kept everything running," she rested her head against the back of the chair, her eyes slowly closing. "Drummer has a recovery plan for you. He doesn't trust you-"

"Umbara?"

"Yup,"

"I deserve that,"

"Anyways, you're being assigned a buddy. I'm your first one," Cody explained,

"I think I can tolerate that, but I'll have you know I don't need to be coddled. I can handle this," she murmured, Cody glanced over at her before focusing back on flying towards _the Negotiator. _

"You know, needing help doesn't make you weak. Actually asking for it makes you stronger," he said quietly, Esinon glanced over at him.

"I want help. I really do, but I don't want people to be thinking I'm helpless, because I'm not." she replied, "I can fight for myself,"

"Oh we know," Cody replied, Esinon smirked,

"You're a good Commander Cody," she replied, "A better one than I ever was,"

"No. You were a good Commander and an even better General,"

"Even though I'm as stubborn as a bantha?"

"You were raised by a Kenobi and a Skywalker, I don't know if you could exactly help it," he replied, Esinon chuckled,

"Kenobi and a Skywalker… not one of the council's better decisions," she mumbled, starting to drift off to sleep.

"It was a perfect one if you ask me," Cody whispered as to not disturb his sleeping Jedi. He thought Esinon was perfect just the way she was, stubbornness and all.

* * *

Esinon hadn't eaten a single food in two weeks, she'd only been taking the liquidized food. Even though she hated the g-tube, she would _not _eat anything that wasn't in a package. Fives had tried to offer her food from the mess hall when Kix had approved it, but Esinon had instantly refused it. So Fives quit pushing it. He wasn't in the mood to argue with her about anything because half the time in her feverish spells he couldn't even recognize him. There was a reason behind Esinon not wanting to touch anything that wasn't in a package first.

Cody on the other hand had stayed up and read the mission report on Zygerria, both Rex and Skywalker had already filed one. He also read over Kix's medical report, understanding what he could. He had gotten a general idea of what might have happened on Zygerria, but he couldn't know everything because mission reports couldn't tell everything. So when supper time came, he was ready, at least he hoped he was.

Esinon had tried to stay out of the repulsor chair to start regaining some muscle mass but she had to hold on tightly to Cody's arm anyway. By the time dinner rolled around the young Jedi had exhausted herself and collapsed into a repulsor chair.

"Hungry?" Cody asked, Esinon glanced up at him.

"Drummer got my 'food' in the medbay?" she asked, hovering alongside him. Esinon was still in sweats instead of her robes, she was still in bandages and her back was sore. Correction her everything was sore, she was still on heavy painkillers and medication, but it couldn't get rid of all the pain.

"Yes- but Kix said it was fine for you to eat in the mess hall today, and the men really want to see you," he said happily, Esinon nodded slowly,

"Ok, but that table better be repulsor chair friendly," she joked, Cody smiled as they finally entered the mess hall. The two entered the mess hall, Cody led her to a table, instructed her to stay and went to go get food.

By the time he had returned she had been swarmed by 212th troopers, who were just excited to see their General again after two weeks. Cody panicked for a second, wondering if being crowded would set off a bad memory, but she actually looked rather calm. She wasn't engaging with the conversation but seemed wrapped up in listening. She had been uncharacteristically quiet for all of the time he had been watching her. Cody edged his way back to her side, setting down a tray in front of her.

She barely spared the food a glance, instead, she focused on whatever story Boil was wrapped up in. He noticed that Esinon hadn't touched her food, he was patiently waiting for her to make a move on her dinner, but it never came. He finished eating, and she had still yet to lift a finger towards her utensils, it was clear she needed prodding.

"General," he began in a soft voice, "Do you want to eat?" She tensed up, inching away from her plate, she shook her head. "You really need to eat," She shook her head again, eyeing the plate of food suspiciously. It was almost a fearful gaze, Cody blinked, he remembered reading something in a report that the food may have been poisoned, or just bad. He realized that Esinon now associated all food with the pain that came with eating on Zygerria. He gently wrapped an arm around her, "Do you want to try?" She shook her head, leaning further into his touch. "I promise it won't hurt you," She turned her head into his chest, definitely the problem. He scooted her plate closer to him and grabbed some of the food into his spoon, he made sure she was watching as he swallowed, "See?" She took a shaky breath,

"Ok," she ate slowly and skeptically, and Cody was disappointed at how small the amount of food she did eat was. At least she ate something.

After dinner, Cody was losing the battle to get Esinon to go to her quarters and sleep. She kept making up all kinds of excuses from wanting to take a walk around the ship or saying something about her wanting to work on some paperwork. Cody was exhausted and grouchy, he was trying to be patient with his General, but it was getting late.

"General, can we please go to bed? It's getting late, and I'm exhausted,"

"Cody, I want-"

"No," his voice came out sharper than he intended, and she flinched at the outburst. "General, it's getting late. Why don't you want to go to sleep?" Esinon panicked for a second, sleeping alone wasn't safe. She was used to having Rex sleeping one bunk above her, not that he could do much if the Zygerrians decided to attack again, but he was there. That was comforting. She remembered that one night she had to sleep alone, it was a very painful night for her. Besides, Fives had slept next to her hospital bed every night… she didn't want to be alone.

"I…" she began, she wasn't ready to talk about it. Cody noticed that she was slowly starting to panic.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's alright. If you don't want to sleep in your quarters, we can probably find an extra bunk in the barracks that isn't being used by the night crew." She finally conceded and followed him to the clone barracks, everyone was already asleep. Cody motioned to the bunk above his and she climbed in. He began stripping his armor, planning to wait until Esinon fell asleep to go to bed, no matter how tired he was.

"Cody?" Came the soft whisper, he turned around to see Esinon curling up in her blanket,

"Yes General?"

"I'm sorry," she whispered, Cody paused looking up at her.

"For what?" he asked,

"For not being braver," she mumbled,

"This," he motioned around him, "Doesn't make you any less brave,"

"I can't even sleep by myself," she replied, looking ashamed of herself, her eyes brimming with tears.

"General, you have been through so much, just because you need some help doesn't make you a coward. Most people wouldn't have been able to survive all that you have."

"Any of you could have," she said, motioning at the sleeping clones. "Rex did,"

"Because of you, you're a little beacon of hope. So what you're a little afraid, anyone would be after that. It's ok to let someone help you sometimes," Cody said, gently rubbing her shoulder, "Ok?" she nodded slowly, "Try and go to sleep, alright?"

"Do or do not," she yawned, snuggling under her blankets, "There is no try…" She drifted off to sleep, Cody smiled softly, pulling the blankets up around his General.

"Goodnight Esinon,"

* * *

That morning Esinon didn't need prodding to eat anything, but she still didn't eat a ton. Bean wasn't overly bothered by that since she did have the g-tube going for her. Esinon stirred her food around,

"What do you want to do for the next few hours?" Bean asked, watching her stare down at her food.

"Uh, I've got some flimsi work and reports I've gotta get through. Fives kept hiding all my work while I was at the medical station," she said, pushing her plate away.

"Well, I think for a good reason, General. You were in the ICU."

"I know, I know," she mumbled, "But the war doesn't stop because I was injured,"

"There's no shame in a break though," he replied, she smiled at him,

"Yeah, I still gotta get some paperwork though. And I thought you'd be perfect to help me organize my disaster of an office than, since you have an addiction to the smell of new flimsi, sticky notes, and organizing things."

"All of those are very true things," Bean replied, she smiled softly. Bean nudged her plate back towards her, "Just a little more? Please?" Esinon sighed, deciding not to fight Bean on it and just eat.

* * *

"I'm gonna try and get Rex here," Drummer said, cleaning up a few things in the medbay. It had been a week since Esinon had returned. "Esinon keeps talking about him in her sleep, and people who suffer trauma together feel safer together."

"That's fine," Cody said, running a tired hand down his face. Drummer glanced at him,

"Is Esinon being difficult?"

"Not purposely, she's just dealing with a lot." Cody replied, "And she's trying to catch back up with work and everything, and it looks like she's gonna be a part of the security detail for the festival of light next week."

"Why?" Drummer exclaimed, "She only just got out of the ICU, the last thing she should be doing is a security detail. She's still only a hundred pounds."

"I know, I know, but I can't argue with the Jedi Council, and Esinon won't either. General Kenobi never did. Besides, a security detail won't require much of her, she just has to keep watch. Nothing's going to happen. Both the 501st and the 212th are required to be there barricading the planet, nothing's going to happen." Cody assured him,

"I don't care," Drummer snapped, "She's had enough, and needs to rest."

"She told me, she doesn't want to feel useless anymore. She's spent almost two weeks in the ICU, and as a slave, feeling powerless. Getting a sense of normality will be good for her," Cody said, Drummer shrugged,

"As I've said time and time again, I am the medic. But I'll let you have this one," he replied, Cody smiled,

"Thank vod, and if I'm wrong. I'll buy you a drink,

"With what money?" Drummer snorted,

* * *

"Are you ready to spar?" Anchor asked as he and Esinon walked down the hallway.

"You'll have to take it easy on me," she joked,

"I feel like I'm going to and then you'll absolutely decimate me," he said, she let out a huff,

"What did I tell you about throwing your weight Anchor? Currently, I weigh a hundred pounds, I would know because Drummer just made me weigh myself, and two you weigh two hundred pounds. You could easily pin me,"

"Then what about staffs? You seem to like those," he offered, Esinon nodded,

"Sure, that sounds fine," A few minutes later they had gotten set up and began sparring. Esinon did a quick double hit at his staff as they began to dance across the mats. Even without her speed, Esinon was still fast as she continued to advance on him. Anchor didn't really care if he lost because he could see the familiar fire returning to his General's eyes as she continually attacked him. This lasted for the better part of an hour before they collapsed onto the mats panting, "Force that was awesome," she grinned,

"Just like old times huh, General?" she rolled over to her side propping herself up on her elbow.

"You know, when I name you Anchor I didn't think you were gonna keep it."

"Why not?" he asked, she rolled back over,

"I dunno, that's a brother thing, and I didn't want to interfere with that ya know? It's better than 'CT-8908' I guess, and I didn't want to call you by your number. It's demeaning." Anchor shrugged,

"You've always acted like a brother towards us or a mom. I guess… I've never had a mom, but from what I've read sometimes you act like one." Esinon snorted,

"Yeah, I guess I do sometimes. I'm used to having to take care of people, my dad, my sister, all of you guys. There's not a lot of the other way around, I guess there has been lately, but it feels weird…"

"No shame in it though,"

"Yeah, I just like taking care of people, I remembered the first time Xavier got sick. I stayed up all night to take care of him, I ended up getting sick too, but I remember loving taking care of someone else. It was tough, granted because I couldn't speak a ton of basic, but the feeling was still the same."

"And you don't get the same by letting someone else take care of you?"

"I dunno… I feel like a burden somehow, even though I know I'm not."

"Well I for one like helping you out, after all you've done for us."

"Well if you're saying thank you, then this is you're welcome," she stretched out her hand, he clasped it tightly. And they stayed like that,

* * *

"You hungry?" Boil asked, it was his turn to watch the General. She frowned,

"Not especially, no," she said, rubbing at her abdomen where the feeding tube would be inserted. He glanced down at her, smiling softly. He still remembered the energetic twelve-year-old who had come barreling into his and Waxer's lives. Waxer would have loved taking care of Esinon, he would have signed up more than once, just to make sure Esinon knew she was loved. His heart panged with sadness for a moment, he shook himself from the memories.

"Well it's lunch and medicine time for you," he said, ruffling her hair. She sighed as they approached the medbay,

"I know," she rubbed at her abdomen again, "I know," they entered the medbay where Drummer had busied himself with other things, and barely spared a glance at them. He'd already shown Boil how to help Esinon with her 'lunch'. It was essentially liquified nutrients, Drummer decided it was the best way to get her weight back.

"Alright, here we go," he picked her up, setting her on the bed, making her giggle. Boil smiled at her as he grabbed the bag of nutrients starting to shake it, grabbing the oversized syringe. He heard the bed rattle slightly behind him, he turned to see Esinon's knee bouncing. She really hated doing this, "So I'm still watching you for a few hours after this, what do you want to do?" he asked, trying to keep her distracted. She looked up at him, getting momentarily distracted, but her knee bouncing soon resumed.

"I dunno," she mumbled, her fists clenching around the sheets. Boil sighed, Waxer had always been better at this kind of thing.

"How about a movie? Can't exactly train after this," he said, drawing the food into the syringe, grabbing the tube that would feed it into her body.

"Whatever you want," she mumbled, paling a little at the sight of the syringe.

"No, but what do you want to do?" he asked, she tugged up her tunic so he could insert the feeding tube. Only then did her knee bouncing still so he could get the syringe inside her body, she scrunched her eyes shut, fists clenching the edge of the bed until her knuckles went white. Boil inserted the tube quickly into the port in her abdomen, the syringe quick to follow. Her knee bouncing resumed, "Relax," Boil whispered, placing a hand on her trembling knee, "It's alright, you're safe," she let out a shuddered deep breath. Her eyes scrunching tighter. "Almost done, you're doing so well," he praised, trying to put the trembling Jedi at ease. Esinon only gave a small nod, refusing to look. Boil finished the rest of the concoction in the tube, removing it from her body. "All done," he quickly put the tools out of her sight. Esinon tentatively opened her eyes, "That wasn't so bad, huh?" She let out a weary laugh,

"How about we trade places," she muttered, some of the color returning to her pale face, sweat glistening in the lights above. Sure she'd done this before but it was mostly when she was asleep or out of it in a fever spell. She'd never been so conscious to do it.

"Just think, only a few more weeks and you can take that thing out," he replied,

"That seems like forever," she mumbled, he walked over placing a hand on her shoulder,

"Almost there verd'ika," most troopers had dropped verd'ika because technically, Esinon wasn't a Commander anymore. She instantly wrapped him in a hug, faster than he could blink.

"I miss him too," she whispered, hugging him tightly,

"He loved you, you know that right?" Boil asked, hugging her back, trying to force tears downward.

"He loved you more, he loved all of his brothers."

"We're carrying that love now."

"We'll carry it with pride," she replied,

"Always,"

"Always,"

* * *

Cody watched Esinon anxiously bouncing on her toes, waiting for Rex's gunship to arrive. She had been pacing back and forth for the last twenty minutes before finally standing in one spot.

"I haven't seen you this anxious in a while," Cody said, Esinon let out low grumble, rubbing at her abdomen again, growling when her fingers caught on her g-tube.

"How much longer?"

"Till you get your g-tube out or till Rex's gunship gets here?" he asked, smirking down at the young Jedi.

"Both," she replied,

"Drummer says you need to weigh one-twenty before you can have surgery to get it out and Rex is arriving-" the hanger doors slid open, "right now," The gunship landed and the doors slid open, Rex practically sprinted to meet Esinon. They quickly inspected one another for injury, before Esinon tackled him in a hug.

"Force, I've missed you," she whispered, her feet dangling off the ground as Rex held her tight.

"You've gotten bigger," he murmured, she chuckled as Rex finally set her back on the ground.

"I gained a whole ten pounds, can you believe that?" she joked, she paused and sighed, "When did my life get to the point where I'm excited about gaining weight?"

"After you went to the ICU," he said quietly, Esinon stared at her feet for a moment before Rex pulled her back into a hug. "But we're gonna be ok now, life can go back to somewhat normal." She chuckled,

"Yeah, normal,"

"Come on, let's go for a walk,"

**A few hours later…**

"You know, I think if Cut wasn't a farmer he could become a therapist," Esinon said, wiggling her feet as they sat in an empty section of the hanger.

"How come?" Rex asked,

"Because we spent a lot of time talking, talking about stuff I don't get to talk about in the Jedi Order. Half of us have mental disorders, and all of it seems too taboo to talk about. I didn't even know I had heightened anxiety until Drummer diagnosed me. I got to talk about stuff about being a soldier that I don't really get to talk about in the Jedi Order. I would talk about it with Master Kenobi sometimes, mostly about the survivor's guilt I've dealt- been dealing with. Anyways, I think I figured out why I've been feeling so guilty about all of…" she motioned to the ship, and then him, and then to her own thin form. "This,"

"Why?"

"I never forgave myself for Sarrish. Not really, I've told myself over and over again that I've forgiven myself for everything that happened in that cave. But I never really did, but I think I'm starting to. I was fourteen years old when all of that happened, so I started looking at my scars, meditating on the memories and it's given me a lot of clarity. Fives said that I kept saying 'Jedi only make things worse,' in my sleep and fever spells. I know that I've still got a long way to go, but I'm getting there." Rex clasped her shoulder, squeezing it tightly,

"You're taking big steps kid, big steps," he said, she smiled shuffling closer, leaning her head against his shoulder.

* * *

**ONE MORE CHAPTER UNTIL OBI AND ESINON ARE REUNITED **

**I thought about combining this chapter and the next but- uh writers block sucks, trying to plow through the Onderon arc and it's not that I don't like that arc- I think it's hilarious... it's just very Ahsoka centric so I've already gotten tired of writing it. But it will be done on time! I promise. **

**Next up on let's canon corner: I feel like this is how some of Esinon, Waxer, and Boil's first interactions went. **

**Esinon comming Waxer: Uh, Waxer I mixed red bull and coffee and now I can see sound! Should I be worried! **  
**Waxer: Probably not **  
**Boil: KID DON'T MOVE I'M ON MY WAY**

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	45. Padawan Mine?

"I am only ten pounds away from being g-tube free!" Esinon cheered, doing a little happy dance in front of the command pod.

"Way to go, General," Cody congratulated, it felt normal seeing her happy again.

"Now, for the festival of light, a select number of 212th troopers will come down to the surface with you and I-" the com table buzzed, Esinon squinted down at the frequency. "Huh, Anakin's calling me," she put the transmission through. Anakin's eyes were filled with rage,

"Esinon, I'm coming onto your cruiser," he said,

"Excuse me," Esinon said, with a shocked look on her face. "I'm trying to plan for the festival of light,"

"There's a change of plans, I'm coming onto the cruiser," he said, and before she could get another word in, the transmission cut out. Esinon let out an aggravated huff,

"Huh, what do you think he wants?"

"I don't know, but he's getting a piece of my mind," she growled, already marching towards the hanger. Cody shrugged, Esinon hadn't done anything fiery or snappy in weeks. This was going to be interesting. A few minutes later, Ahsoka and Anakin's fighters pulled into the hanger. Esinon tapped her foot annoyedly as the knight jumped out of his fighter. "Anakin, I'm trying to-"

"Obi-Wan's alive," Esinon instantly froze,

"What?" she whispered, barely managing to get that out,

"Obi-Wan is alive," Anakin repeated, Esinon glanced back at Ahsoka who nodded in affirmation. The Togruta walked over to Esinon, looking like she wanted to reach out, but also didn't want to suffocate Esinon.

"I- I don't understand," Esinon said shakily, "he can't be alive… I watched him die- I held him while he died."

"The council paid Hardeen to shoot Obi-Wan and he took a vital suppressant. He then disguised himself as Hardeen, and he's been undercover since." Anakin explained, not bothering to be gentle at all with Esinon. He was too angry.

"Esinon… are you…" Ahsoka paused, not knowing what to say next.

"Um… I need to- I need- I'm gonna go." she stammered before hurriedly walking off. She disappeared into a training room, sinking down against the wall. "Obi-Wan's alive," she murmured, "Obi-Wan's alive," She repeated, trying to make it feel real. It didn't. Every day she'd hope someone, anyone would wake her up from this hellish nightmare of life without her Master and tell her he was right there.

She thought, she thought hard, back to that night. The night that she had filed into the part of her mind that never saw the light of day. She remembered running through the streets, not thinking that it was strange he decided to take the high ground. She remembered thinking it was too easy when Hardeen shot Obi-Wan. She tried to remember what his body felt like in her arms. His back felt hard… too hard, like he had something on. A bullet-proof vest. She'd been foolish enough to believe it. She drew her knees up to her chest when a horrifying thought occurred to her.

That night on Coruscant, had she slit Hardeen's throat, she would have killed her Master. She clasped a shaky hand over her mouth, her eyes welling with tears. How could she have been so naive, so stupid? How could she not have sensed him? He was _her _kriffing Master and she didn't sense him? Wait... he never said anything to her, not when she pinned him to the street, not when they were alone in his cell on Coruscant. He didn't even try to tell her. Could he not sense her disgust for his killer? A few tears leaked from her eyes when she realized another thing, he had faked his death. Obi-Wan Kenobi _faked _his death.

She tore off her shirt, staring at the mirror on the other end of the training room. Her eyes drifted from her scar on her forehead to the criss-cross scars on her abdomen.

_Umbara_

She shakily stood up and turned around looking at the whiplash scars on her back.

_Zygerria _

Scars Obi-Wan should have been there for. In the ICU- it should have been him organizing her meds, explaining her surgeries, keeping her from ignoring injury on Umbara, Zygerria, he should have been there. He was her Master, shouldn't he have protected her?

She knew as she got older she'd have to take care of herself more and more, but she was sixteen. She was still a minor by Coruscanti law, and wouldn't be a legal adult until she was eighteen. Ahsoka was technically an adult and could do things like discharge herself from the medbay, and sign off on her own surgeries, and drink. Esinon could not. Didn't she deserve some protection from the horrors of war or her own terrible decision making? She slid back down against the wall upon hearing the blast door to the training room whoosh open,

"Esinon," Ahsoka said softly, "Can I sit with you?" Esinon peeked up at the Togruta who was still standing at a safe distance. Slowly, the Scipian nodded. Ahsoka slid down next her, "Do you wanna-"

"No," Esinon replied, anger replacing her sadness.

"Ok," she whispered, "We're already heading to Naboo. Not sure if you heard the alarm but Admiral Block and Yularen already put both cruisers in hyperspace."

"Ok," Esinon whispered, resting her chin on her hands. Ahsoka carefully shuffled closer, putting an arm around her. Esinon let out a shuddered breath, "I'm sorry,"

"You have no need to be,"

* * *

Six hours later _the_ _Resolute _and _the Negotiator _pulled out of hyperspace. It had given Esinon lots and lots of time to think, and become very, very, angry. She hated the council for putting her through that, for Obi-Wan going along with it! They had used her. Did they choose to make her a General to test her? Her attachments? She'd almost died multiple times! By the time Master Windu commed them to explain the plan from the planet's surface of Naboo, Esinon was fuming and concentrating all of her control on keeping the electricity she possessed inside her body.

"As you can see, we've mapped out the Chancellor's routes to and from the festival routes. We know where he'll be at every moment from the time the rest of you land on Naboo." Master Windu informed them, Esinon's eyes shifted around the council members on the holo. They all knew? They'd let her suffer like that? Go to that darkness? She shook herself from her own thoughts, trying to pay attention to the briefing.

"What security measures are in place?" Master Plo asked, Master Windu pressed a button on the holo table and a map of Naboo appeared.

"The Naboo royal guard will have armed sentries at all entry points on the palace." Red dots littered the map around the palace, "And the stage itself will be sealed by a ray shield for the duration of the event."

'_So why exactly did my Master have to die and go undercover for four months if we've got all this?' _Esinon thought bitterly,

"I see nothing here to worry about," Anakin said,

"With complacency comes vulnerability," Master Yoda interjected, "Yes… it is what we do not see that worries me. A long time to plan his attack, Dooku has."

"Yes. We thought we'd have an advantage with Obi-Wan on the inside but we haven't had communications with him in almost a month," Master Windu said,

"Obi-Wan will do his part. Let's make sure we do ours," Esinon said fiercely, she shut off the holo before she could get eyes from the council. She didn't care anymore. She doubted they would either if they had suffered like she had. She let out a heavy sigh, today was supposed to be a happy day. All of these negative thoughts would put a damper on what this day represented and her friends. She purged them from her mind. She wouldn't worry about Obi-Wan right now. All she needed to do today was protect the Chancellor, and aside from that, enjoy the firework show. She had plenty of other people at her side over the last couple of months that supported her in his absence, so she would think about instead, and the smiles they never failed to bring to her face. She nodded to herself, steeling her resolve._ 'Today will be a good day.'_

* * *

Esinon walked off of the ship that contained the Chancellor, following after Anakin and Ahsoka, keeping a neutral expression. Ahsoka nudged Esinon at the sight of the Queen of Naboo and Senator Amidala,

"Not every day you get to see a Queen," she whispered, Esinon smirked,

"What do you mean? You get to see me all the time," she replied, Ahsoka rolled her eyes good-naturedly but was happy to see Esinon smiling. The two girls turned their attention back to the conversation happening in front of them,

"...Although I think the amount of security that has accompanied me is overkill." the Chancellor said,

'_My Master faked his death for you, so you're not dying on me today your Excellency.' _Esinon snapped in her mind,

"With all due respect Chancellor," Master Windu began, "where your safety is concerned there is no such things as 'overkill',"

"So you keep insisting, Master Jedi," the Chancellor sighed, "but I've grown tired of discussing it." He strutted off with his entourage following.

"Anakin, Ahsoka, Esinon," Padme greeted warmly, "Welcome to the Festival,"

"I've never seen the festival of light," Ahsoka said, examining the glittering streets of Theed. "Sounds like a big event,"

"They're expecting a large crowd," Anakin replied, "which means it will be difficult for Dooku to attack during the ceremony. That leaves the palace as the best place for an ambush."

"Are you that certain an attack is imminent?" Padme asked sadly,

"I'm afraid so," Anakin said, shaking his head. "Which is why I'm making Ahsoka your personal bodyguard. Esinon you're with me."

"At your service my lady," Ahsoka said,

"If there's any trouble, Ahsoka will get you and the Queen to safety, and the rest of your staff to safety."

"What about you?"

"Hopefully I'll be where I always am," Anakin replied, walking off ahead with Esinon following. "Esinon, if anything happens, don't push it."

"Anakin, I promise I'm fine. I actually haven't felt this amazing in weeks," she attempted to assure him.

"Please Speeds?"

"Fine,"

**That night…**

Esinon stood still next to Anakin watching the Chancellor and Naboo staff arrive in the staging area. The audience rose and clapped before returning to a seated position.

"Alright, staging area's set, raise the shield," Anakin instructed in his comlink. Instantly a generator sprung to life, casting a blue bubble all around the stage. The crowd murmured for a moment, probably not knowing anything of the threat to the Chancellor. Anakin motioned to the podium and the Chancellor made his way over to give his speech, Esinon rubbed at her abdomen again.

"It is an honor to be here," The Chancellor said, his voice echoing. "For this momentous occasion. The pride I feel for this planet cannot be put into words. Eight hundred and forty-seven years ago Naboo joined the Republic. And tonight we celebrate that union! Take a moment and look around this glorious city of yours. It wasn't long ago that it was all plasma mines. Naboo indeed has come a long way." Esinon could sense something coming, she started scanning the crowd. "But as we chart a bold course for the future, let us never forget our past!" She got distracted by the fireworks crackling in the sky, she scrunched her eyes shut and took a deep breath. No flashbacks today, she opened her eyes starting to scan the crowd again, tuning out the Chancellor's speech.

"Skywalker!" Master Windu suddenly shouted, "The shield generator!" Esinon's eyes jumped to the shield generator where a Parwan was reaching through. Before she could even react Anakin was sprinting forward, he didn't make it in time. The shield generator exploded, throwing Anakin and the Chancellor to the ground. Esinon waved to Ahsoka, signing to her to get the Queen and her staff to safety. The Togruta nodded and started to usher people out, the chaos and screaming was making Esinon's head hurt. She glanced over to where the Chancellor was being escorted into a speeder,

"Anakin's down!" Mace shouted, Esinon sprinted over, vaulting over the railing and rousing the unconscious knight.

"Are you alright?" she asked, he groaned,

"Those tentacles pack quite a punch," he murmured,

"Come on," she said, hefting him to his feet. Her comlink blinked to life,

"The Chancellor!" the voice of Rako Hardeen exclaimed, it made her skin crawl. "The guard escorting him is a bounty hunter!" Mace Windu jumped onto the speeder, followed by Anakin and Esinon who all leveled their lightsabers with Embo. He raised his arms in surrender, the Chancellor stood up and started towards Anakin.

"Chancellor, are you alright?" he asked, without skipping a beat, Palpatine socked Anakin in the jaw. Esinon reacted instantly, charging the fake and ramming her in the abdomen. She slammed her fists down over the bounty hunter's back, before leveling her saber with the hunter's head.

"Where's the Chancellor," she demanded, instantly they all whipped their head around at the second hum of a speeder. Cad Bane saluted them from the backseat, with the Chancellor in the passenger.

"So long Jedi!" he mocked before Eval drove them off. Esinon without pausing to think took off running.

"I'm going after Bane!" she shouted,

"Esinon no!" Anakin yelled as she took off a super speed, running along the canyons and tailing the speeder. After a while of running she finally caught up with them, her Master was already there. Her heart almost stopped beating but she forced herself to keep it together. He had already engaged Eval and Bane, she leapt down and socked Bane in the jaw. He attempted to pull a blaster on her but she called it into her hand, firing off several shots.

"Surrender now," she snarled, Bane ignited his rocket boosters and flew up into the sky before dive-bombing her. She fired off another round of shots with ARC precision hitting the booster to disable him but not blow him from the face of this galaxy. As much as she might like to. She leveled the blaster with his head. "It's over," her Master had taken care of Eval.

He looked up to her slowly, his face crossed with concern, "Esinon I-" she pressed her comlink to interrupt her Master. She wasn't in the mood to talk to him,

"This is General Esinon Windcaster, we have custody of Eval and Bane." she interrupted him, now was not the time.

"We're on our way," a guard member said, before Obi-Wan could attempt to talk to his padawan again, Anakin and Mace appeared.

"Speeds, are you alright?" he asked, Esinon nodded tiredly,

"I'm gonna go back to the Negotiator, sleep for a while. I'll be fine though," she said, Anakin nodded, understanding why she didn't want to stick around. Esinon took off again until she arrived at the transports that were heading back to the _Negotiator. _Boil noticed her arriving,

"Were you just running?" he demanded,

"I know, I know it looks bad, but it was important." Most of the troopers in the 212th had already been informed that their supposedly dead former-General was in fact very much alive and well.

"Come on, you look sick, sit down," Boil said, guiding her into a transport. She tiredly slumped into a seat,

"Thanks," she mumbled, Boil sighed, sitting down next to her. "'M gonna take a nap for a while, I don't-" she cut herself off,

"Want to be around when General Kenobi comes back around the cruiser?" he clarified, Esinon nodded letting out a low growl.

"Why can't I just get over it? Why can't I just be happy that Obi-Wan's back?"

"Because you're sixteen and still see the best in people. Trust me, you live a couple more years and you'll understand what I'm talking about," he replied as the final troopers entered the transport and it jolted into the air. "You have a right to be angry, so does every trooper in the 212th. Kriff, even in the 501st. General Kenobi missed a lot. A lot of important stuff that he's supposed to be there for as our General." Esinon drew her knees up to her chest,

"I was looking at my scars earlier and… I felt betrayed that he wasn't there for me. He's supposed to protect me, and I know he can't protect me from everything, but he should have at least been there." she murmured, she gave a weak chuckle, "Funny how the council shuns me for my attachments but then relies on them to seal the deal."

"Feel what you're gonna feel, it's better to get it out instead of bottling it up," Boil replied, shooting her a look. She gave a half-hearted chuckle,

"Alright, there's a punching bag with my name on it in the training room," she said,

"Nap, meds, and food first. And no going full ballistic," Boil said,

"Alright Dad," she joked, Boil rolled his eyes good-naturedly and the two sat in silence for the remainder of the ride.

* * *

Obi-Wan scanned the crowd for his padawan, there was so much he wanted to tell her after four months. How sorry he was, how much he had missed her. He wanted to ask her so many things too, about the clone on Coruscant, about the crutches, about why she had referred to herself as General Windcaster. His eyes finally landed on Fives who was talking to Rex, they would probably know where Esinon was. Before Obi-Wan could make it over to Fives, Rex had already concluded their conversation and disappeared.

"Fives," Obi-Wan called, the ARC glanced in his direction, instantly stiffening. Obi-Wan attributed it to the fact that he still looked and sounded like Rako Hardeen. "Fives, I was wondering if you have seen Esinon, I need to speak to her."

"I don't think she's available at the moment," he gritted out, obviously not wanting to talk to Obi-Wan.

"Please Fives, I need to talk to her."

"She went back to the Negotiator." Fives replied, glancing down at his gauntlet. "She's probably is passed out after taking all her meds."

"Her meds…" Obi-Wan repeated slowly,

"Yeah." The ARC shoved a datapad into his arms, leaning in close so that only Obi-Wan could hear him. "With respect, you're lucky she's still around at all." he backed up, motioning to the datapad. "General Windu wants you to review the reports on that." Obi-Wan stared at the spot where Fives had just been standing.

"Lucky…" Just what had happened while he was away…

* * *

"Can you not tell him please?" Esinon asked, following Drummer around the medbay. "I know how to do the g-tube and take all of my meds by myself. I don't need Obi-Wan's help."

"Look, if you really don't want me to tell General Kenobi, I won't, but I do have to tell him when your surgery to remove your g-tube comes around. He is still technically a legal guardian of yours." Esinon groaned,

"Can't Anakin just sign off like last time?"

"It's the closest available." Drummer replied, scanning down a few reports. Esinon sighed,

"Fine," she grumbled, "I'm going to go-"

"Hide?"

"Don't push it Drummer," she replied, still remembering her conversation with Boil about having a right to be angry.

"You do what you want to, we're all upset. But you'll have to face it sometime sooner or later." the medic replied,

"So you're telling me you want to face Obi-Wan after going through all of those safety circles?" she shot back, Drummer didn't answer.

* * *

Esinon had gone back to sleep after her conversation with Drummer, she was still exhausted for one and for two, she really did not want to face Obi-Wan. That of course did not work because Obi-Wan knew the combination to her quarters.

"Padawan mine, wake up," a familiar voice whispered, gently nudging her awake. Esinon murmured something as she slowly blinked her eyes open, and all she saw was the face of Hardeen. In a moment of bleary sleep and medicine filled mind, she tackled Hardeen and called a virbo-knife off of her desk and pressed it to his throat. He made a choking noise and it all came flooding back to Esinon. The knife clattered to the floor and Esinon backed away trembling. Obi-Wan started to reach for her but she held out a shaking hand,

"Stay away from me," she whispered, hugging an arm around her abdomen.

"Esinon, I'm sorry," Obi-Wan said, "I didn't mean to scare you,"

"I tried to kill you once while you wore that face, I almost just killed you again. Stay back," she said forcefully, Obi-Wan obeyed and backed up a few steps. Esinon sank down to the floor against the opposite wall, she pulled her knees to her chest and raked a hand through her hair, trying to quell her rising panic. She took a few deep breaths, she clenched a fistful of her hair trying to find some sort of grounding.

"Esinon, please let me help you," Obi-Wan said, his heart aching to see her hurting. Esinon shook her head,

"I told you to stay away from me," she snarled, "Don't come in here and expect me to be ok!" she shouted, tears finally fighting their way past her defenses.

"I- I don't," Obi-Wan confessed, "But it's me, your Master, Obi-Wan. I can go take the disguise off and then come back-"

"It's not about the face Obi-Wan!" she shouted, "It's about you leaving me, you should have been there! You should have kept me from becoming like this!"

"Like what Esinon?" Obi-Wan asked in a gentle tone, "I can't help you if you won't talk to me,"

"I don't want to talk to you!" she sobbed, "Y-you left me, a-and I almost died! And I failed s-so many times, you should have protected me!"

"Esinon, I am so sorry that you felt abandoned, I know how hard that must have been for you," Obi-Wan said, taking a knee in front of her,

"No you don't!" She shouted, "Why don't you get it! You weren't there! You weren't there for all of my scars!" Obi-Wan opened his mouth to say something... anything. "Just please, just leave me alone." Esinon whimpered,

"Esinon I-"

"GO! I told you to go! Leave! Just go!" she shouted, Obi-Wan finally conceded and left the room, leaving Esinon alone once again to cry.

**One month later…**

Forgiveness. Esinon thought she was a fairly forgiving person, not one to hold a grudge. But she could not find it in herself to forgive Obi-Wan, even he and Anakin had come to a sense of forgiveness. She was reminded of his betrayal every time she looked in the mirror. The scars that littered her body. But at least she had this mission to distract, a 212th and 501st joint mission. Her favorite, and Fives was even here too! Perfect mission standards in her opinion. Esinon ducked another blast as she was shoved further and further towards the edge of a cliff. A raging river below her, at the moment she was back to back with Fives.

"Just like old times huh?" she shouted over the flak explosions, Fives chuckled, blasting another droid's head off. She deflected a few more blasts, using the force to drive a droid right into her lightsaber. In battle oftentimes there were too many things to focus on at once, and sometimes you didn't realize something was coming until it was too late.

"ROCKET!" Someone screamed, Esinon instinctively dove off to the side, plastering her body to the ground where Fives was still in her eye line. He was in a similar position when the rocket hit, ground shaking, ears ringing, bright lights flashing in the darkness of the night. She heard another scream pierced the darkness, the ground rumbled again as the cliff's edge broke. And watched as Fives fell over the edge into the raging rivers below.

"FIVES!" she shrieked, scrambling from her position on the ground and peered over the edge where Fives had plunged into the water. His head quickly resurfaced. Without thinking, she jumped over the cliff's edge, quickly scaling the rock wall and running along the banks edge, scanning for the blue armor of her brother. She finally spotted his body bob above the water for a millisecond and she chased after. She finally caught up with him and used the force to drag him to the shore. In the panic of trying to check if he was ok, she didn't notice the water swelling around her feet and in the next rush of raging water both of the soldiers, dragging Esinon and Fives under. At the last second she latched onto Fives, desperately trying to keep them together. She struggled to keep both their heads above water as they were dragged downstream.

_Angle towards the shore, angel towards the shore, angle towards the shore, angle towards the shore. _But it was easier said than done, she grunted as she slammed into another rock, Fives's armor was weighing them down, but she couldn't do anything about it. She gasped as she dragged under the water and Fives was pulled away from her. She tried to swim back up but was quickly jerked back down, her ankle twinged with pain as she realized she was stuck. She panicked for a moment but then remembered that would only waste her air supply, she turned her head to see her ankle trapped between a log and a rock. She used a burst of the force to shove the log away, freeing herself. She bobbed back up above the water, gasping for air, not far off she spotted Fives had finally caught on a mud bank at the edge of the river.

She gave a sigh of relief but it was short-lived as she was dragged under again, water burning down her throat and sinuses. She finally shot herself up above the water, catching on a flat in the river. She panted for a moment, dragging herself up next to Fives, hacking up mouthfuls of water. It dripped from her mouth and nose down her face. She clenched her fists into sand and rocks as she took a moment to catch her breath, her body was on fire.

It finally occurred to her that she hadn't seen Fives moving, or making any noise. She scrambled to her knees, pulling off his helmet, part of it was cracked. Fives's face was covered in mud, water, and blood, she glanced down at his stomach. He wasn't breathing, she panicked. She'd never been taught how to deal with this!

'_Use the force little runner!' _Qui-Gon called through their bond. She instantly obeyed, holding her hand over Fives's face and using the force to draw the water out of his lungs. She watched as a ball of water formed underneath her hand, it swirling with… blood. Internal bleeding. That wasn't good. After a few more seconds, he shot into a sitting position, painfully hacking up mouthfuls of water and blood that looked like caf grounds, thus proving her theory of internal bleeding. He moaned, falling back to the ground,

"Fives? Fives can you hear me?" she asked, he nodded, panting. She collapsed back onto the ground in relief, listening to both of their harsh breaths slow.

"Where are we?" he finally murmured,

"I don't know," she glanced down at her vambrace, "But my comlink's gone," Fives mumbled something under his breath, Esinon scanned the bank's edge and spotted a cave. "Alright, here goes nothing," she mumbled, heaving herself to her feet and wincing at the pain in her ankle. Guess she limped now. She wedged her hands underneath Fives's armpits and hauled the barely conscious ARC into the cave. She finally collapsed next to him, gritting her teeth at the way her body ached. She couldn't imagine how Fives's felt, after a few seconds of catching her breath she hauled him the rest of the way in, setting him up against the wall. She tapped his cheek, rousing him. "Fives, I think you've got a head injury. You gotta stay awake." Fives nodded blearily as she wiped away mud from his face. She started peeling away armor, and undersuit. "Someone will notice we're gone, and come looking for us." she said, giving Fives something to focus on while she tried to quell her own rising anxiety. She pressed along Fives's rib cage, wincing in sympathy when she felt bones move and click.

"Ow," Fives whined,

"Yeah, I know," she whispered,

"Guess it was my turn," he murmured, resting his head against the cave wall,

"Your turn for what?" Esinon asked, as she pulled out surprisingly dry bandages from Fives's emergency medical ARC kit.

"Being injured," he replied, "It was you last time, so it's my turn."

"We're both injured Fives," she replied, still feeling the dull ache in her ankle and ribs.

"I mean more severely," he said, as she helped him sit forward as she smeared what little bacta they had over his ribs, and then wrapping the bandages around his abdomen.

"I think it's a miracle when both of us come back mostly unharmed," she joked, as Fives sat back again. She placed her hands in her lap, studying the cave for a moment. Trying not to shudder at the memories that ripped through her mind. Fives placed a hand on her shoulder, catching her eyes.

"You ok?" he asked, knowing what kind of memories being in a cave would trigger for her. Esinon paused for a moment before nodding,

"I'm gonna go look for a tree or something to get a fire started, ok?" Fives nodded, "No sleeping,"

"Yes sir,"

* * *

Fives studied Esinon for a moment watching her from across the cave as she began to check herself for injuries. She had her back to him as she pulled off her tunic, pressing her hand gently along her ribs. He scanned her back, watching shadows cast themselves along her scars. She was so young, it wasn't fair for her to have more scars than him.

"Have you talked to General Kenobi lately?" he asked, Esinon glanced over her shoulder at him as she continued her self assessment of injuries.

"No," she replied, trying to give the hint she didn't want to talk about it. She poked her g-tube once, it was a little aggravated but it didn't look terrible. Besides, she was getting it removed soon.

"Why not?"

"I think you know why Fives," she snapped, pulling her tunic back over her head. And moving to remove her boot, she gingerly tugged it off, wincing at the pain that followed in her ankle. It was severely swollen, and not a pretty color either, it was already bruising. She doubted it would fit in her boot in the morning.

"I know but I thought-"

"I don't want to talk to him," she said forcefully, thankful that her back was to him so he couldn't see the tears falling from her eyes. She bit the inside of her cheek, '_This is not how I wanted to spend my seventeenth life day.' _

"You have to sometime. Even General Skywalker has come to some sort of peace with General Kenobi and yes I was angry too when General Kenobi came back but what I don't understand is why you won't even try? That's not the Taz I know."

"Because I can't Fives!" she finally shouted, "Because I can't, I just can't anymore. I've tried and tried to find some sort of something within me to forgive him, but every time I look in the mirror all I can see is the fact that he wasn't there." She finally went quiet for a moment, "His death broke me. Sent me to the kind of darkness where I could have murdered people and not felt any remorse. The kind of darkness that I didn't know if I was going to come back from."She went quiet for a moment before letting out a strained chuckle, "You know, I spent weeks preparing myself for my first life day without Obi-Wan, and even though he's alive, I guess I'm still gonna spend it without him anyway."

"Come here," Fives said quietly, Esinon crawled over to his open arms. She tucked her head against his chest, "What do you want to do when we get back to the Resolute for your life day?"

"Nothing, it's not a big deal,"

"Yes, it is, my little sister is turning seventeen. That is a big deal, so you wanna sneak into mess hall after hours like last year, or movie night?"

"How about both?"

"Now that's a plan," he replied, "Why are you reminded of his betrayal when you look in the mirror?" Fives asked quietly,

"My scars, all of the ones I got over the past four months, he wasn't there for. I just felt like he should have been there to protect me." she mumbled, Fives paused for a moment.

"Has General Kenobi seen any of them?" Fives asked,

"Not to my knowledge, no."

"Then why not show him? If you feel like he isn't understanding why you're so upset, then show him all the scars. All the medical reports, there are probably security cameras in the medical station you were in. Show him one of your spells, if he sees all of that first hand it might help you guys get to a place of forgiveness." Esinon sat up a little bit,

"That's… actually a really good idea," she said, Fives smirked,

"I'm your older brother, I'm supposed to have all the genius ideas." she chuckled, leaning back down as they snuggled together for warmth.

"Thank you Fives,"

"You're welcome Taz,"

**The next day…**

Esinon made her way into her quarters on crutches, her ankle was only sprained but she needed to stay off of it for a little while. She flicked on the lights, deciding to work on her profile to show Obi-Wan. She sat down at her desk, glancing over at her bed. There was a small, rectangular, wooden box on her bed, with a flimsi note on top. The box wasn't overly ornate, but it had small carved flowers. She picked up the note, getting curious,

_Padawan mine, I know we often don't get gifts for one another on life days but I thought this year- after everything- you deserve something nice. I know that you have taken an interest in Vibro- knives, and daggers, __I got this for you, and I know that you may never forgive me for the Hardeen incident and I know that now. I will no longer make excuses, and if you wish to become Master Fisto's padawan instead, I will understand. Although I cannot lie, I will miss you greatly. Happy life day Esinon. I love spending time with you, and your joy and light have made me a better person. Thank you, for everything. _

Esinon set the note aside, her gut twisting. Obi-Wan was sorry, but still. She needed to show him why she was still so angry. She carefully opened the box, the dagger was not fancy. Jedi like clones couldn't afford many fancy things and materialistic possessions fell into the category of no attachments. She carefully picked it up, examining the blade. The leather hilt was soft to the touch and the silver blade glinted in the lights of her quarters. It really was a nice gift, she'd thank him before showing him everything. And with that, she returned the dagger to its box and then set back to work.

**Later that day…**

Obi-Wan glanced up from his work at the sound of the door to his office sliding open. He instantly lit up when Esinon stepped through, with Cody behind her holding a stack of flimsi. Obi-Wan had been fairly depressed after the whole Hardeen ordeal, he just wanted his padawan back. But he didn't know if he deserved her forgiveness. Cody set the stack of flimsi files down on Obi-Wan's desk, Esinon fished a holo recorder out of her pocket and placed that on top. She gave a nod of thanks to Cody as the Captain ducked back out.

"Esinon, I'm so glad to see you." he greeted,

"The dagger, it's really nice, thank you," she said with a genuine smile. She just wanted life to go back to normal, she was going to do this. She needed Obi-Wan to know.

"I'm glad you like it," they both paused, an awkward silence filling the room. Obi-Wan finally cleared his throat uncomfortably and glanced down at the files, "Are these reports you filled out?"

"Um… not exactly," she said, tracing the outline of her g-tube under her tunic. "I… I know that I haven't really been taking any steps towards making things better between us. That's on me. But the thing is, I went through a lot as a General while you were gone."

"Esinon, I was promised that you would go with missions with Master Fisto," Obi-Wan replied, "I didn't know that the Chancellor would promote you, putting you through that was never my intention."

"I know, but I have come to the realization that for me to be able to come to a point of forgiveness I need you to know everything that happened to me. Everything… I've been hiding from you." Esinon had locked files from Obi-Wan, not letting him see anything about mission reports from Umbara and Zygerria. She had gotten the idea in her head that if Obi-Wan wasn't there in person, he didn't deserve to know, now she knew that that was the only way she could reach forgiveness. "These are mission reports and medical reports from Umbara and Zygerria." Obi-Wan glanced from her to the file on his desk and tentatively opened the first one. He skimmed down the first one marked Umbara. Words of execution, betrayal, and Krell stuck out. He glanced up at Esinon for a moment, she motioned back to the files and he kept reading. He flipped a page to find a casualty count higher than he had ever seen before, he could see scrawly handwriting he recognized as his padawan's where she had written every name of every trooper who had died next to their CT numbers. He flipped to the next section of the file,

_General Windcaster was injured in an explosion, multiple pieces of shrapnel were lodged in her side. General ignored injury for an estimated hour, sustained extent of damage, including, but not limited to six-inch laceration on the right side of her abdomen, a pierced kidney, four fractured ribs, and general bruising and battering. _Obi-Wan glanced back up at Esinon, she didn't meet his eyes. He turned the page and grimaced at the photos that had to be taken of his padawan's injuries.

"When did this…"

"After Krell's execution. I was injured in an explosion and I thought I could handle it. Evidently not." she said, running a hand along her abdomen. "Keep reading," Obi-Wan opened the next file marked Zygerria and almost got sick at the photographs inside, whip lacerations covering every inch of her back, bruises and welts, and the skin was obviously infected. He flipped again looking at the different diagnoses, along with medications, including listed dates of her time in the ICU. "I was captured and enslaved, I got sepsis and when it seemed like I was getting better I relapsed. Kix was worried I would go chronic. Be stuck in a repulsor chair most days, more medications than I can count." She let out a harsh breath, "I had to get two surgeries," she pulled up the front of her tunic, "One for my g-tube and one for," she turned around, pulling up the back of her tunic to show the scars. "And one to get rid of the infected skin." She sat back down, "And on the holo recorder is security footage from my room, it's when I was having a fever spell. Sepsis causes delusions, some hallucinations. I just want you to see what that was like for me, and… Fives." Obi-Wan slowly opened the holo recording and played the video,

"_I know, I know, almost done," Fives murmured, Esinon was sobbing as Fives rocked her back and forth in his lap. Kix was busying inserting a hypo into her arm, _

"_Let go Hevy!" she wailed, _

"_It's Fives Esinon, Kix is almost done, just hold on a little longer," Kix finally finished backing away from the crying padawan. Fives gave a nod of thanks to the medic as he disappeared. _

_"Where is Obi-Wan?" she whimpered, "Why won't he come see me?" _

"_Esinon, General Kenobi died, do you remember?" Esinon only started to cry louder at the news. Fives only held Esinon tighter, trying to be there for his sister. _

Obi-Wan glanced up at Esinon who had her eyes closed, trying to fight off the foggy memories of her fever spells. He could feel tears welling in his eyes,

"That's why I was slow too-" she paused, as Obi-Wan rose from his chair and made his way over to her. "Forgive you and everything because-" before she could finish, Obi-Wan had dropped to a knee and wrapped her in a hug. Esinon was too stunned to move, she registered him burying his head in her shoulder and she could feel him shaking. It finally dawned on her, he was crying. Her Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, was crying. She tentatively wrapped her arms around him, she bit the inside of her cheek but gave up quickly and let herself cry.

"I'm so sorry," Obi-Wan choked, he lifted his head allowing Esinon to tuck her head underneath his chin.

"It was so hard," she whimpered,

"I know," he murmured, she buried her face in his chest, inhaling deeply, catching the familiar scent of his robes. One she had been clinging to for the four months of his absence. At that point, Esinon was sobbing, clutching her Master tightly. Letting him feel four months of pain through their newly reformed bond.

"A-and I kept praying t-that you'd come back! And make it o-ok. And-d then I almost died and then I almost k-killed you!" she wailed, Obi-Wan didn't respond. At the moment, he didn't have anything he could offer her to make any of the pain go away. "I-it was so dark," So Obi-Wan did the last thing he could think of, he flooded their bond with every warm memory he could think of. Her sobs finally quieted, and grip on his robes softened. She let out jumpy breaths as her breathing slowed to normal,

"There we go," he soothed, "Shh," Esinon finally settled down, her breathing finally going back to normal. "I'm so sorry,"

"I know," she whispered, "I forgive you," Obi-Wan almost started crying again. He'd waited so long to hear those words from his padawan.

"Thank you," he whispered, she hugged him tighter.

"Force I've wanted a hug from you for so long… guess anger blinds." Obi-Wan hummed in agreement,

"When did you get so wise?" he asked,

"I've learned a lot while you were gone," she said,

"I look forward to hearing it all," they sat in silence, just holding one another. Relieved to finally be reunited at last.

* * *

**Finally. Thirteen chapters later Obi-Wan and Esinon are finally reunited. Thank goodness, I was getting tired. **

**Thank you all for going on my crazy adventure with this arc and mini arc. Honestly I promise it wasn't this chaotic when I started out (Guilt and secrets started out as just one scene of Esinon taking Dogma to Cut's farm and then I was like what if I gave Dogma a friend and then that whole arc happened) **

**Shoutout to eagle eyes98 for helping me tweak this chapter to get it perfect! **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: since we were just talking about Guilt and Secrets, ****you know that on long nights under the stars, both Esinon and Slick use Dogma as a pillow. Esinon hugging one of Dogma's arms, tucked against his chest. Slick has his back to Dogma, Dogma's the mediator between them. **

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	46. A War on Two Fronts

**One month later…**

'_Are all Separatists that ugly? At least his hair is sorta better, still, I don't know what Ahsoka sees in this guy. How can she still love him after Carlac? Lux dragged her there, it was different with Korkie because he had no choice. We were already in hyperspace. Still, Lux is so annoying. I know Jedi aren't supposed to do the whole hate thing but I will never forgive him for ruining those peace negotiations. Hang on- maybe Fives was right about the whole vengeance thing. Huh, after the Hardeen stuff I can hold a grudge. And for good reason! What Obi-Wan did was stupid, but Lux kriffed up my entire future. I want to be done with this war, he wouldn't last two seconds on the battlefield. He'd probably whine that his hair got messed up.' _Esinon snapped out of reality when Master Kenobi gave her a sharp probe to her mind, she finally started to pay attention to what Lux Bonteri was saying.

"Unfortunately the only way to reclaim Onderon will be through armed struggle." Lux said, "But we lack sufficient hardware and supplies."

"Onderon is in your king's rule and at the outbreak of the clone war he sided with the Separatists," Master Kenobi said,

'_You tell him Master!' _

'_Calm down,' _Obi-Wan said through their bond, Esinon quickly put up her shields, not realizing their bond was open.

'_Sorry,' _

"Our true king has been silenced," Saw said suddenly, "The one you recognize is a traitor and a Separatist minion. We need your help to survive this," he said, turning to Anakin who seemed more than ready to help the Separatists.

"Find a way, we shall," Yoda said, Saw and Lux nodded,

"We await your transmission," Lux said, bowing to the council. Esinon saw Ahsoka and Lux glance at each other and she raised a brow. Well, if that's who Ahsoka wanted… even if Lux was ugly, and Separatist, it was Esinon's job as Ahsoka's friend to make that happen. Lux and Saw ended their transmission.

"There are pockets of rebels on many of these planets that just need guidance." Anakin began, "With training and resources they could attack soft targets while the Republic continues to engage them on the battlefield."

"That sounds like terrorism Anakin," Obi-Wan said, sitting forward in his seat.

"Well I think of it as an insurgency to help realign these planets with the Republic," Anakin replied,

"We can divide the Separatist forces and press them on two fronts." Master Plo added,

"A means to an end, fear cannot be." Master Yoda said, "Stop those who spread terror the Jedi must."

"Indeed," Master Kenobi replied, "What you're suggesting would open up dangerous possibilities. And we must not train terrorists."

"Eh, rebels," Anakin said with a shrug,

"How we conduct war is what distinguishes us from others. Funding rebels to overthrow a legitimate government puts innocent lives at risk." Obi-Wan replied,

'_But we still are conducting war as peacekeepers… maybe these Masters remember what it was like to be a true peacekeeper, but I might never.' _

"We can minimize collateral damage by using arms that mainly affect droids," Anakin said,

"The least we can do is help them defend themselves," Master Windu said, glancing at Yoda. "test the tactic while we're at it." Anakin chuckled,

"This could be a great new weapon for us." Master Yoda hummed thoughtfully,

"Train and observe. Send advisors we will."

"I'll assemble a team,"

"I'm going with you," Obi-Wan said, getting up and joining Anakin's side. Esinon walked over and joined them,

"What? You don't trust me?" Anakin joked,

"Too much. That's what worries me,"

* * *

"This is Valkyrie 2929. We're coming up on the drop zone," the pilot called over the intercom. Esinon pulled the hood of her cloak over her head. The door to the shuttle opened,

"Go, go, go, go!" a clone shouted, she obeyed and followed after Ahsoka and jumped into the jungle. She landed on the grassy floor, as they watched the shuttle pull away. The five of them glanced to one another before giving nods of understanding and taking off into the trees. Esinon leaped from branch to branch, scanning the terrain for Onderian rebels.

Even though she did not want to see Lux Bonteri- and it would take a lot of restraint not to sock him in his jaw- but this mission sounded fun! Training people to do what she had been doing for most of her life, maybe it would finally give them some empathy.

They were making good time through the forest when a high pitched howl pierced the night. Esinon whipped her head around and bounded towards the noise, she peered through the trees to see a girl perched on a Tee-Muss.

"Stay where you are," the girl demanded, more tee-muss's came from around the back. "Identify yourself." Anakin held up his hands in a placating gesture before pulling off his hood to let her see his face.

"It's alright, we're friends,"

"Jedi," she breathed, Esinon dropped from the trees, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan and Rex coming into view not long after.

"I'm Commander Tano," Ahsoka said, "We're here to help you take your planet back."

"My name is Steela," the girl introduced, "I'll guide you to our secret base,"

* * *

They walked until the sun had risen, as the train of Onderonian rebels increased.

"Onderon sure is pretty," Ahsoka murmured, Esinon gave a nod of agreement, Steela held up her hand and they halted. She finally gave a nod and then continued, as the trees began to part into a camp. It was an abandoned temple of some sort, Esinon glanced up at an archway as a ruping came and landed. There was a man on top of it- wait, the man from the holo. Saw?

She was pretty sure his name was Saw. She gave him a two-fingered salute when she saw him staring at her. He may be in charge here, but the thing was, the rebels hadn't been doing a great job of retaking their planet back.

The early morning chatter of the camp died down with the arrival of the Jedi. The rebels were dressed in scraps of armor, certainly not enough protection. They all had weapons that looked like they had been scavenged or all mashed together,

"Hmm. A little rough around the edges, wouldn't you say?" Obi-Wan asked, looking around the disheveled camp.

"That's why I brought Rex here," Anakin replied,

"They're not exactly what I'd call shinies sir, but I can work with them," he replied, the ruping Saw was riding squawked as he directed it to the ground. He came to stand by Steela and gave a nod to Anakin,

"General Skywalker," he greeted,

"At your service," Anakin replied, giving a small bow. He motioned to Obi-Wan, "This is General Kenobi, Commander Tano, Commander Windcaster, and Captain Rex."

"We're looking forward to taking the fight to those scrappin' droids." Saw said,

"Yes," Obi-Wan replied, "All in good time," Saw crossed his arms over his chest,

"I'm Saw, Saw Gherrea," he said,

"He fashions himself as our leader," Steela explained, punching him in the arm playfully, "Although no one elected him."

"Well, for now, we're in charge," Anakin said, crossing his arms over his chest. "And there is much to learn."

* * *

For the most part, Esinon and Ahsoka had been sitting in the background while Obi-Wan and Anakin laid it out for the ragtag rebels. Well, Ahsoka had been trying to and failing to not stare at Lux, Esinon on the other hand was having a stare-off with Saw. She was going to show him who was boss.

"The Separatists have strength in numbers. We're going to show you how to target and destroy them." Anakin said,

"Now to be clear," Obi-Wan began, "we are not here to fight your war for you. Rather we will show you how to conduct it in an efficient and successful way possible." All of the rebels gave a nod of understanding,

"Captain Rex," Anakin said, Rex stepped forward, getting the same look he got when a new group of shinies showed up.

"I'll show you how to destroy clankers 501st style." he said, "First, I'll need volunteers to move supplies from our entry point a half klick west." Esinon smirked, of course, Rex would start them with supplies and organization.

"Shouldn't be a problem," Saw said,

"Excellent," Esinon followed after the rebels, leaving Ahsoka with Lux.

"So Commander, you ready to whip us into shape?" Saw asked jokingly as they started to pack up supplies,

"Only if you're ready to do what it takes," she said,

"I want my planet back," he said confidently,

"There's hope for you yet," she replied,

* * *

Esinon stood in front of a Separatist tank, staring down the Onderonian rebels and frowning at Lux's poor excuse for armor. He had duct tape holding his left shoulder bell in place. Then again, she didn't like him very much and she was finding anything and everything to hate about him. She turned her attention back to the lesson she was giving,

"The pilot in the front hatch controls the tank, the shells, and the short-range blasters. The Commander in the top hatch controls the turrets and the main cannon." she said, she motioned to the tanks. "You have to take out both chambers. Otherwise, the tank will still be operational." She gave a nod to Rex who grabbed two disruptors off of his belt and jumped onto the disabled tank. He threw the first disruptor into the hatch and grabbed onto the main cannon, swinging to the top and nimbly walking across to deposit the second disruptor before flipping off the tank and landing gracefully as the tank sizzled out behind him.

"Everyone divide up into teams of two," Anakin called to the rebels, "and we'll practice an assault on both hatches." The Onderionans swiftly did as they were told, Lux giving Saw a confident look.

'_Battlefield is a lot different than a Senate room, you better get ready Bonteri.' _Esinon thought to herself,

"I'll take the top," Lux said, Saw shoved Lux's shoulder roughly,

"Let's see what you're made of Bonteri," Rex tossed them both disruptors, and as soon as Saw got a hold of his, he shoved Lux to get a head start. Esinon groaned, they were not off to a great start. Saw opened the front hatch, while Lux clumsily scrambled past him and barely made it up onto the cannon. He promptly fell off of it and crashed into Saw, sending them both tumbling off the tank. They landed right at Rex and Esinon's feet, Lux got to a knee, offering a hand out to Saw.

"Sorry about that," Saw batted his hand away with a low growl,

"You're a terrible soldier Bonteri," Saw snapped,

'_You're not much of a soldier yourself Gerrera,' _Esinon thought bitterly, her arms folded over her chest. "Next!" Esinon shouted as the next pair of rebels darted up to the tank. They went again, and again, Rex drilling the rebels relentlessly,

"Come on!" he shouted, "Go, go, go, go, go!"

* * *

Three hours later they were still drilling hard at the tank. The rebels had to get this down or they wouldn't stand a chance. The next pair of rebels flipped off the tank,

"Come on!" Rex shouted, "Move it like a soldier. Like a real soldier!" Esinon watched as the rebels ran faster and faster.

"You think they've got what it takes?" Esinon asked quietly, Ahsoka didn't answer her. Esinon elbowed her in the ribs, "Soka,"

"Hmm?" she asked, returning her gaze to Esinon. She traced Ahsoka's eyeline back to… Lux. Gross. "Sorry, what did you ask?"

"The rebels, do you think they can handle this?" she asked,

"I do," Ahsoka said, "You?"

"If they work hard then yes, but the reality of war is going to be a big wake up call for them," Esinon replied, folding her arms behind her back.

"What do you mean?" Ahsoka asked, turning her attention from the rebels to Esinon.

"I just mean that being a soldier is a reality that a lot of people aren't ready for. We can train them as much as we want to to destroy tanks and droids, but we can't prepare them mentally for anything they're just about to face. Some things as a soldier have to be learned through experience." Ahsoka read between the lines of her statement,

"...and you think we have that experience?" she asked, Esinon was about to answer when they were interrupted by Lux, Saw, and Steela arguing. The two Jedi padawans turned to watch the show.

"You would've had us both killed," Saw snapped, jabbing an accusatory finger in Lux's face. Lux rose from the rock he was sitting on and stepped towards Saw, a scowl on his face. Steela instantly shoved them apart

"Just stop it," she said,

"Sit down boy," Saw said, shoving Lux back. "This isn't the Senate. You've got no talent for this,"

"It's going to take a lot more than the muscles to defeat the Separatists," Lux argued,

'_Funny how he's trying to fight off the Separatists but serving their Senate. Why are we even doing this? To try and make Onderon Republic territory?' _Esinon thought to herself,

"Politics have failed us. We have no choice." Saw said,

"We always have a choice," Lux said, narrowing his eyes.

"Then make yours," Saw growled,

"Look," Steela finally snapped, "If we're gonna succeed, you'll need to be exceptional in both words and actions."

'_Ok I'll give her that one.' _

"There will be time for both," Steela finished, Saw let out a low growl before storming off.

'_This would go a lot better if they started fighting the Seps instead of one another.' _

* * *

"Destroyers are quick, pack twin blasters and come with their own shield generators." Anakin said, standing in front of the reprogrammed destroyers with large red 'x's' marked on them. "Nothing short of cannon will pierce it," The rebels glanced at each other nervously. They didn't have cannons, or heavy artillery like the Republic did. Anakin noticed, "But they do have two weaknesses, and you will need to work together to exploit them." Anakin gave a nod to Rex who pressed a button on his vambrace and the destroyers sprung to life.

"The shields deflect high-velocity attacks," Rex said, demonstrating by shooting the destroyer's shield twice. The destroyer reacted, taking a few steps towards Rex.

"What the shields don't stop are slow or stationary objects, they are designed to absorb them so nothing hinders their movement." Anakin said, he gave a nod to Ahsoka who pulled a droid popper off of her belt and with practiced ease rolled it through the destroyer's shield. It went off with a bong and the destroyer curled up.

"Destroyers are blind from behind," Ahsoka explained, "A distraction combined with a rear assault will give you a kill. The trick is to get the right speed on the droid popper." Rex pressed another button on his gauntlet, arming all three of the destroyers. He then pulled out a droid popper from his belt, holding it up for the rebels to see.

"These are unarmed, just focus on getting it past the shield." he tossed the popper to Saw who held it confidently.

"Watch and learn," Saw said, eyeing Lux. The Senator rolled his eyes, Esinon smirked,

'_Pfft, this took me weeks to get perfect. Gregor drilled me relentlessly on this,' _she thought to herself, he tossed the popper, it was moving way too fast. Just as Esinon expected, it bounced off the shield.

"Quite brilliant," Lux said smugly,

'_You're not gonna do any better Bonteri,' _Esinon thought as Ahsoka tossed him a droid popper. She watched him toss it, expecting it to bounce back but instead it went through the shield. She gave a nod approval, '_Way to prove me wrong,' _

"Nice touch," Ahsoka said, smiling at Lux. He gave a small dip of his head, beaming at Ahsoka,

"Thanks," Esinon glanced at Steela who was scowling at Ahsoka and snickered.

'_Oh this love triangle is too good, but Steela you better watch out. What Ahsoka wants, she gets.' _ Steela shoved Lux's shoulder playfully,

"Not bad," Esinon noticed Ahsoka's face falling.

'_Was I ever like this with Korkie?' _she was torn from her thoughts as the sound of a popper hitting the shield and a frustrated growl from Steela.

"Be mindful of your frustrations," Master Kenobi said, stepping forward,

'_Oh, I've heard this one before,' _

"They will only hinder you," he finished,

"Here," Lux said, grabbing Steela's shoulder with one hand and her wrist with the opposite. "And keep your eyes on the target," he explained, moving her arm in the motion that would allow her to get a popper through the shield. Steela wasn't paying attention to what Lux was trying to teach her- which could save her life- instead, she was staring at Lux, her cheeks a rose color. She then smirked at Ahsoka as if to say, 'he's mine.' Esinon rolled her eyes, if this didn't stop, she was gonna pull one of them aside and tell them to get it together. She heard Ahsoka grumble,

"Great," she muttered, Esinon stepped forward,

"Alright, everyone! Pair up! We'll divide into groups," She instructed, all of the rebels obeyed. Ahsoka looked like she was about to try and pair up with Lux, but he went off with Steela. Esinon decided to give Ahsoka some space to think, she technically couldn't encourage this since it was against the Jedi code- but she was a hypocrite. Then again, she didn't feel exactly like a Jedi… something else. She couldn't quite put her finger on it yet.

**A few hours later…**

Esinon tapped her foot a little impatiently watching the rebels repeatedly fail to get the droid popper through the destroyer's shield. She sighed, watching Lux move Steela's arm for the thousandth time, she pulled a droid popper off of her belt.

"Ok, watch me," Esinon said, the rebels backed up and watched the Jedi Commander. She tossed the droid popper down, with a decent backspin that went straight through the shield. A murmur went through the crowd,

"How did you do that?" Steela asked, "I can never seem to get the speed or distance." Esinon tossed her another droid popper,

"Try a little backspin, it'll help," she said, "And loosen up your shoulder, you're too tense."

"How long have you been doing this for?" Lux asked as Steela tried again, he cringed as the popper bounced off the shield.

"Five years," Esinon said bluntly,

"Did it take you that long to get it?" Steela exclaimed, Esinon chuckled, shaking her head.

"A few weeks to be able to get it through the shield ninety percent of the time." Steela scowled, "But you're not gonna get anywhere if you give up. I was drilled for weeks because this can save your life. Destroyers are not something to be messed around with. They can mow down entire platoons in seconds, I've seen them do it." Esinon said sternly, she tossed Steela another popper, "Try again," Lux stepped forward to help her but Esinon shook her head, Steela needed to learn how to do this on her own. Steela tossed the droid popper down and it bounced off the shield again, she let out a low growl.

"Just forget it! I'm not gonna get this!" Steela finally shouted, storming off. Esinon was about to go after her when she saw Ahsoka heading towards Steela.

'_Good for her,' _Esinon thought to herself, pulling another popper off her belt.

"Here Bonteri, since you seem to get it," she said, tossing him the popper. Lux nodded, tossing the popper and it went straight through the shield. "You're a quick learner,"

"Thanks," he said with a soft smile. Esinon gave him a nod, she still didn't know if she could get past his selfish actions- but… he wasn't so bad, she guessed.

* * *

Steela fired off another round, hitting droid head after droid head. She was as good as Bean, Esinon was impressed.

"Very impressive," Anakin complimented,

"Fixed targets are one thing," Ahsoka said, "how about this?"

'_I thought Ahsoka would quit the one-upping by now. Someone's gonna notice. I think that Anakin already has but...' _Ahsoka used the force to hold a droid head up in the air. Esinon watched as Ahsoka flicked the droid head back and forth. Steela fired hitting it once, twice, three times.

"Not bad," Ahsoka said, trying not to let the disappointment in her voice show. Lux clapped Steela on the shoulder, beaming at her. Master Kenobi walked over to Steela,

"You clearly have mastered your ability to focus," he said, Steela smiled and nodded. Anakin pulled Ahsoka aside for a moment and Esinon's attention was soon caught by Rex.

"A headshot is the only decisive way to take out a droid. They don't need arms, legs, or bodies to pass on intel to central command," Rex explained, "All right, shoot at will," he instructed, Steela's sniper whipped up to her eye to take fire. She paused for a moment,

"Wait a minute," She said, "There's… something out there."

"Droids!" Saw shouted as the first wave of droids burst through the tree line. Esinon drew her saber on instinct as the droids unleashed a barrage of fire.

"Get down!" Anakin shouted, Esinon deflected three bolts before flipping out of the way of a cannon's blast. She followed her Master and Anakin back as they ducked behind supply crates,

"It looks like the training is over!" Obi-Wan shouted over the explosions, Steela took down three droids in rapid succession. Esinon continued to deflect both, her lightsaber a blue blur.

"I'll take the left flank if you take the right!" Anakin shouted to Obi-Wan,

"No Anakin," Obi-Wan said, as the three Jedi ducked back down, "We can only protect them, we can't fight this war for them."

"Well then let's do just that," Esinon replied, she leapt up onto a crate and worked ever harder. Obi-Wan turned to Steela,

"There are too many of them," he said, "Anakin, Esinon, Ahsoka, and I can hold them off while you get your people out of here!" Steela glanced out at the fresh wave of oncoming droids.

"You didn't teach us to run," she replied, she held her comlink up to her mouth, "Saw, use your disruptors to take out the droids," In a matter of seconds disruptors were thrown into the fray and glittering explosions decimated the droids.

"Not bad," Anakin chuckled as Esinon hopped down from the crates and joined them in a crouch.

"That is only the first wave," Obi-Wan reminded him, as soon as the dust cleared a Separatist tank appeared and Steela's eyes went wide. The tank fired off a round and the rebels scattered. Esinon ducked down as debris rained down upon them,

"We'll handle this," Esinon said, about to head off to take out a tank but Steela grabbed her arm.

"No, I will," she replied, she whipped up her sniper, aiming it at Esinon's forehead. Or so it seemed, "Duck!" Esinon, Obi-Wan, and Anakin dropped, she fired round after round nailing the gates holding the Tee-Muss. The animals stampeded through the arena, confusing the droids long enough for Esinon to spot Lux and Saw sprinting through the field towards the tank.

'_Please don't die," _she silently begged, Saw got the first popper in the hatch and Lux actually managed to nimbly climb up to the top hatch and toss the popper to the droid. Ahsoka flipped up onto the tank and used the force to shove the command droid down before they all ran away and the tank exploded behind them. Steela sprinted over to Saw and Lux, where Ahsoka was already helping Saw to his feet. Steela helped Lux and Esinon saw the look that crossed Ahsoka's face. She got up and followed Master Kenobi as they regrouped with the rest of the rebels.

"Take confidence from this victory," Obi-Wan advised, "But rest assured, there will be more droids coming now that they know your position."

"It doesn't matter," Anakin interjected, "You're ready now. We are going to take the fight to the droids. You don't have to hide in the jungle any longer."

"Droids were a bit dim," Saw said, thinking about the droids not even recognizing a bomb in front of them. "More so than I imagined,"

"They're designed to overwhelm," Esinon said, "Any stupidness in their design is made up for by their numbers. Don't forget that,"

"But they're not designed to deal with our approach," Anakin said confidently,

"We hit them where they least expect it," Lux said, "And before they realize what happened,"

"We fade into the population," Steela finished,

'_Not a bad plan Bonteri, maybe you do have a mind for this. Still hate you, but maybe I'll calm down with the amount of death glares I give you,' _

"Exactly," Anakin replied,

"We need a plan to get inside the city," Ahsoka said, placing her hands on her hips.

"I have an idea," Lux said after a moment,

* * *

Esinon sat on a Tee-Muss, the hood of her cloak pulled far over her head. The gentle rock of the animal was soothing as she rode next to Master Kenobi as they followed the caravan of pelts. They finally made it to the entrance of the city where a giant rey shield waited along with squadrons upon squadrons of armed droids. Esinon said a silent prayer to the force that this plan would work, or this rebellion was going to be short-lived.

"Halt," a droid said, and the caravan stopped, "What were you doing outside the city gates?"

"Hunting," Lux replied, "we've been trekking for days," the droid glanced at its partner before returning it's gaze to Lux.

"Did you register before your excursion?" the droid asked,

"No, but most of our time is spent in the bush collecting our traps. We come to the city to sell." Lux explained, as a droid started to scan over their piles of pelts, Esinon held her breath. Underneath those layers were rebels. "You can't get thrip larvae like this in Iziz. Only the biggest trees on the other side of Onderon."

"Hey listen," Steela said, "we need to deliver all of this in time for supper!" The droid hummed,

"Are you scanning anything?" it asked it's partner,

"It's hard to tell with so much organic matter," the droid replied, it was working.

"Come on!" a rebel shouted from the back, "Our merchants are waiting inside! Can you hurry it up!" the droids backed away from the caravan.

"Let them through,"

"Roger, Roger," the second one replied, the rey shield fell and they were allowed to pass inside. They rode for a few more minutes before landing themselves in the city center,

"Not a bad start," Anakin said, "but now the hard work begins."

"You must find recruits and choose your targets wisely," Obi-Wan advised, "They'll be looking for us,"

"We should split up," Lux said,

"Regroup after nightfall," Saw added, "I'll alert our brothers,"

"We'll make sure you have the supplies you need," Anakin said, as Lux and Saw dismounted from the caravan.

"Rex, Esinon, and I will take care of that," Ahsoka said,

"Good luck," Lux said,

"You too," Steela and Ahsoka simultaneously, the two girls glanced at each other. Rex shifted his gaze from Ahsoka to Esinon as Steela jumped off the caravan.

'_How long has that been a thing?' _he signed to her,

'_Just leave it, I want to beat the crap out of Lux too.' _she signed back,

'_Oh yeah, peace talks?' _

'_Right, you were in the room for my feverish rant about that,' _The two of them returned their attention when the caravan jolted again. Esinon nudged her Tee-Muss forward, following the caravan. Hopefully, this rebellion wouldn't end as soon as it had begun.

* * *

**Ok guys, for the sake of how I'm writing this arc, the Jedi knew from the get-go that Saw and Steela are siblings.**

**Also, yesterday my autocorrect tried to change Obi-Wan to Obama and I died.**

**Sorry to any of you who like Lux, Esinon kinda tore him to shreds but you've gotta give her a little slack. She's kinda bitter after the whole Hardeen and Zygerria thing. Seeing Lux just reminds her that the war could have ended if he didn't run into those peace negotiations, but I get why he did. I'd want vengeance too if Dooku killed my mom. **

**Anywho, next up on let's make this canon corner: ****Even though Ahsoka is a Jedi she can flirt like no one's business and is kinda boy crazy**

**thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	47. Front Runners

**Quick announcement before we head into the chapter, I start school on Wednesday. Which unfortunately means that I won't be posting twice a week anymore. I'm taking difficult classes and I also have tennis so my time to write will be greatly diminished. So instead of posting on Tuesdays and Fridays, I'll only be posting on Fridays. Thank you! **

* * *

For the day Esinon had been a silent observer, hiding in the shadows watching the rebels work and more importantly the people's reactions. This rebellion wouldn't end well if the people saw them as terrorists, and if anyone found out the Jedi were involved, it wouldn't end well. Esinon crouched next to Steela as she lined up a shot on a droid that was guarding a large rey shield. In one swift shot, she took out the droid and then the generator for the rey shield. The shield fell and in seconds a spider droid appeared firing off several shots at her and Steela. Both of them ducked back, a few seconds later Rex and the rebels had decimated that droid. Esinon and Steela peered back over the edge of the roof,

"Droids, six o'clock," Esinon whispered, Steela whipped her sniper rifle over the edge and waited until the droids were in range and she took them out in rapid succession.

"That should give King Rash something to think about," Steela grinned, Esinon peered back over the edge looking at the destroyed droids.

"Yeah- yeah I think you've gotten his attention," she replied, before sliding down the edge of the roof, with Steela following after her.

* * *

Esinon stood in a dark corner of the room and watched rebels file into the rendezvous point. Master Kenobi waved her forward, and she joined them and sat down next to Ahsoka. The four Jedi removed their hoods.

"Your success will not go unnoticed," Anakin began, a chorus of cheers went through the crowd of rebels.

"I agree," Master Kenobi said, "but we need to be mindful of public perception. What were your observations, padawans?"

'_Oh, so we've gone to padawan formalities.' _

"The people were fearful Master," Ahsoka began,

"I agree with Padawan Tano," Esinon said, "I'm afraid they will mistake the rebels' intentions."

"We need to do more damage," Saw said, enthusiastically punching his fist into his hand. "A few dozen broken droids will do little to free Onderon."

"The people need to believe that we can succeed." Steela interjected, "Without their support our efforts are meaningless."

"If they're afraid, they won't support us," Lux added, "We need to assure them of our intentions."

"I don't understand, why are they afraid?" Saw asked,

"They're afraid we aren't strong enough to win," Steela replied, "We need to earn their trust."

"You'll have plenty of time to earn their trust," Obi-Wan replied,

"All of you are going to be very busy," Anakin said,

"Today was only a taste," Rex added, grinning at all of them like a bunch of shinies, "You'll get your chance,"

"In the meantime, make the most of your victories," Obi-Wan said, "Welcome and learn from them."

"Perhaps if we hit something big," Lux said, "gave a show of strength." the young Senator started to pace the room. "They will overcome their fear and join us."

"Do you have something in mind?" Ahsoka asked,

"I know the perfect target," Lux said,

**A few minutes later…**

Esinon pulled her hood over her head, following her Masters, Rex, and Ahsoka out of the building where the rebels were staying.

"I think they're ready to give the 501st some competition," Anakin teased,

"...Let's not get carried away General," Rex replied, Anakin chuckled to himself. "Though these rebels have impressed me."

"We will share these developments with the Jedi council," Obi-Wan said, "Ahsoka and Esinon will remain here as advisors, monitor them and report back to us with their progress," The two padawans bowed to him before Anakin pulled Ahsoka off to the side. Master Kenobi pulled Esinon off a bit too, "Do keep an eye on Ahsoka, she seems a bit… distracted,"

"Of course Master, I will," she replied,

"No Master, I want to stay," Ahsoka said, Obi-Wan turned to the two padawans,

"Good. We should continue to provide supplies and credits, but they must learn to operate on their own." he advised, both of them nodded, "Their survival depends on it,"

"Yes Master," they both replied, Anakin turned to Ahsoka,

"And remember your purpose here," he said, Esinon glanced at Ahsoka and the two of them watched the two Masters and Rex walk away.

"Ahsoka, are you alright?" she whispered, Ahsoka quickly nodded,

"Yeah I'm fine," she replied quickly, Esinon stepped in front of Ahsoka.

"Because you know you can talk to me about it, right?" she said, the togruta nodded,

"We should… probably go back inside," Ahsoka said, Esinon gave her hand a quick reassuring squeeze.

"Ok,"

* * *

The next night, Ahsoka and Esinon were laying belly flat on top of a building next to Saw, Steela, and Lux as they looked over the power grid. The blast doors slid open and a squad of droids marched out,

"This power generator feeds substations across the city," Lux said to Steela. "We hit that, the entire grid falls."

"How does that help us?" Steela asked skeptically, "Battle droids are no longer connected to a central hub. They all operate individually,"

"Yes, but they still need power to recharge," Lux replied, "if we take out this facility, it will knock out the power grid, and then it will only be a matter of time until the droid army is brought to a standstill, literally."

"If you carry the plan out by nightfall, you'll maximize your strike capability," Ahsoka said,

"Okay so we just need to figure out how to destroy the power station," Steela said,

"We need to do more surveillance," Lux said, staring out at the crackling power grid.

"Those droids should have all the intel we need stored up in those tin cans, right?" Saw replied, Esinon nodded,

"You just need to get an intact one, and then I- or someone can perform a Robo lobotomy," she replied, Saw grinned at her,

"Then I'll just go get us one," he slid down the roof, disappearing to get a droid. Esinon watched Saw appear on the ground and quickly run-up to a droid. He snuck up behind a squadron of droids and grabbed the head of a straggler. He snapped off the head in one swift motion before running off again. He quickly returned to the roof, before handing over the head to Esinon. Lux opened up a kit for her and she pulled out the wiring and plugged in the droid's head. She shoved the head to Lux,

"Hold that," she said, her fingers flying over the keyboard, rapidly drawing out mounds and mounds of data. Esinon finally extracted the map to the power grid, the rebels peered at the holo map,

"Sentries at every point inside and out," Saw said, motioning to the blinking red lights that represented droids.

"We can't sustain combat against these numbers," Lux said,

"But our size makes us perfect for mobility and surprise," Steela interjected, "We need something with heavy firepower if we are to blow up this facility."

"If we give them enough trouble, they'll call for reinforcements," Lux said,

"Like a tank," Steela finished,

"Exactly," Lux said, "Then you can provide cover while we hijak it."

"And then we use their own weapon against them," Lux pulled the wire out of the droid's head,

"And bring the droid army to its knees," Saw said, Ahsoka glanced at Esinon who gave a slight nod. This plan could work.

* * *

Esinon had her back pressed against the wall in an alleyway behind Ahsoka, Saw, and Lux, with Steela on the other side. A couple saw them and Saw put a finger to his lips and shook his head and the couple moved on. A speeder skidded around the corner and a rebel jumped out of the cockpit, a speeder that was full of armed droid disruptors. A platoon of droids marched around the corner,

"Remember the plan," Lux whispered, "We attack this patrol and hopefully they will call in a tank for backup." The droids met the speeder and started to push it forward to get it out of the way. The platoon soon moved around the speeder until they had surrounded it. Saw flagged the rebels on the other side of the street and they pressed the detonator. A flash of light later and half the platoon went down. Saw flagged rebels forward again and they burst into the streets and fired off rounds at the droids taking them out.

"Let's go!" Saw shouted, he and Lux ducked out of the alleyway, blasters blazing. Esinon crossed her arms over her chest and resisted the urge to go and fight, they needed to learn how to do this on their own. They left one droid standing, and it did exactly what they needed it to do. It called reinforcements. Steela only let it get far enough to call for a tank before taking it out.

"Let's hope they send a tank," Ahsoka said, and the two padawans along with Steela ran out into the street. Esinon perked up at a familiar whirring,

"Do you hear that?" She murmured, Ahsoka nodded, knowing exactly what was coming. "They've sent destroyers! Move!" Esinon shouted, sprinting to the cover of the speeder when the droids came rolling around the corner at top speed. They immediately unleashed a barrage of fire, Esinon ignited her lightsaber, jumping on top of the speeder and deflecting bolts. Seconds later she saw Lux and Saw appear behind the destroyers, Saw rolled his droid popper perfectly and took down the first destroyer, Lux's did not. The destroyer sensed it and turned to face them. Saw dove around the destroyer's fire and ducked behind the destroyer. Steela grabbed a droid popper off her belt and sprinted toward the destroyer. She dodged fire and then slid down on the street and placed it through the shield, taking down the destroyer. Esinon replaced her saber on her belt, Ahsoka grabbed Steela's sniper and the two padawans sprinted to Lux, Saw, and Steela.

"Well I've never seen a destroyer taken out that way," Ahsoka joked, handing Steela's sniper over to her.

"We all have to adapt," Steela replied, another whirring sounded and it wasn't one of a destroyer. Esinon felt a jolt of electricity go through her, it was a tank. They had sent a tank!

"There's our tank!" Saw shouted happily, the tank lowered it's canon, firing off a shot.

"Split up!" Esinon shouted, the rebels instantly obeyed, ducking off to separate sides of the streets. Steela took out the B2's guarding the tank one by one before she could get to the last one, it fired a rocket. Esinon ducked away as it exploded near her, her ears were ringing as debris rained over her. Lux and Saw continued to advance until they were right on top of the tank. They both pulled droid poppers off their belts and sprinted onto the tank, making quick work of the droids. Finally, the rebels had their tank.

"Good work," Saw said, "Now let's get this thing up and running again," they all climbed back up the tank. Esinon glowered at Saw when he almost hit her with the droid he threw out of the top. "Sorry!" He climbed into the hatch, getting into the driver's seat. A few more moments past,

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Lux asked,

"Give me a second," Saw replied,

"Do you know what you're doing?"

"Yeah, I know what I'm doing," Saw snapped,

"You boys having a problem?" Steela asked, climbing up to the hatch.

"No. No problem. Why?" her brother asked,

"Well come on, we need to get moving!" Steela replied,

"Hey! Who put you in charge?" Saw snapped,

"This is like you and Fives," Ahsoka whispered, Esinon rolled her eyes,

"Well he is my brother," she replied, "And you're the same way with Rex,"

"You're the same way with Boil," Ahsoka shot back with a smirk,

"I could do this all night-" she was about to continue when she was interrupted when Steela climbed into the hatch of the tank and it jolted slightly.

"Couldn't have done it better myself," Saw said, Steela rolled her eyes and climbed out of the tank and Saw climbed back in. The tank moved forward and all of the rebels took a position on the tank as they rode towards the glittering power grid.

"I'll draw their fire," Steela said, jumping off the tank when they got close,

"Good luck," Lux said,

"I'll cover you," Ahsoka added, hopping off the tank and following Steela.

"Guess that means you're stuck with me," Esinon joked, the tank continued for a few more moments.

"We're almost in position," Saw said into his comlink, "Ready when you are Steela." A blue bolt shot through the night, nailing a droid through the head.

"A sniper!" A droid cried, "Get her!" Another droid went down,

"Roger, Roger," Steela took out droid after droid as red blaster fire lit up the night. Saw turned the tank towards the droids and Esinon heard one of them yell,

"Look! Reinforcements have arrived!" she smirked as Saw popped out of the hatch and waved at the droids. "Hey! You're not a droid. Get down from there!" Saw plowed through the platoon of droids towards the doors of the power grid. In one shot he blew the doors off, he fired again blasting off the second pair of doors. White optics flickered in the night as commando droids flipped out of the shadows and began to attack them.

"Fire the gun!" Steela shouted as she plastered herself against the tank and fired multiple shots at the commandos.

"It's recharging!" Saw shot back, a commando leapt up on the tank and grabbed Lux's shirt and slammed him against the tank, Esinon pulled her dagger out of her boot, as the commando slammed Lux again.

"Bonteri! Duck!" she shouted, Lux instantly dropped as Esinon leapt over him and tackled the commando droid, stabbing her dagger straight through its heart,

"Watch out!" Lux shouted Esinon threw the dagger behind her without looking, nailing another commando before calling the dagger back to her hand. "You're kinda terrifying, you know that right?" he asked, continuing to fire at the commandos, Esinon smirked drawing her saber and tucking the dagger in her belt.

"Yeah, you should be glad I don't use it one you," she said, deflecting a bolt and hitting a droid straight through the optic with scary accuracy. Lux raised his eyebrows and held up a hand in a placating gesture. "Good choice Senator,"

"You're all clear!" Steela called, Saw fired multiple shots at the power grid, and Esinon dove behind the tank at the electrical discharge. The power grid went up in smoke and the entire city went dark. Esinon pulled down her goggles over her eyes to be able to see in the dark and ran off with the rebels,

"Looks like all that training is paying off," Ahsoka said through their private com channel,

"You know for only a crash course they're doing pretty well, meet you at the rendezvous."

* * *

Esinon and Ahsoka watched as the rebels took out pod after pod of droids, the droids were instantly confused in the new change of environment. They weren't built to adapt. And then an amazing thing happened. The people of Onderon started to cheer, to yell encouragement.

"It's the rebels!"

"Fight for Onderon!"

"They're destroying the droids!"

"Freedom!"

"Fight for freedom!"

"Destroy the droids!" A chorus of freedom rang through the streets of Onderon that night.

"It's working," Esinon whispered,

"The rebels have given the people something that the droids never did." Ahsoka began, starting to walk off, "hope,"

**A few hours later...**

Esinon stood next to Ahsoka looking out over the crowd of happy rebels.

"Show those droids what we're worth!" Saw cheered happily,

"We must celebrate," Steela said,

"With pleasure," her brother replied, picking up his sister and spinning her around. When Saw set her down Steela walked over to Lux,

"Come here you handsome Senator," she embraced him in a hug that lasted way longer than a normal one would, and Esinon saw the annoyed look on Ahsoka's face. The jealous look. She turned her attention back to Steela and Lux who were still embraced, it was like when she and Korkie had hugged in public before they were dating. Suddenly she was missing her boyfriend, she should call him when this mission ended.

"Ahsoka," Anakin murmured, trying to make his voice low enough for only his padawan to hear but Esinon was too close. "Remember what I told you about being focused?"

"I can't help it, Master," Ahsoka replied honestly,

"I understand," Anakin replied, Esinon's heart beat a little faster. What did he mean? Was she reading too far between the lines, or did he mean it was normal for lifeforms? Which also begged the question of why they had the no attachment rule. Her relationship with Korkie, Fives, her own Masters could be considered attachments and they had been nothing but good for her.

"You do?" Ahsoka asked,

"I do. But remember, always put your purpose above your feelings." he reminded her. Ahsoka nodded as Master Kenobi's hologram stepped forward,

"This latest development will surely get Count Dooku's attention. He will respond harshly. They will stop at _nothing _to find you. You must adapt and continue to confront them in order to liberate Onderon."

"We will," Saw said,

"And we will win," Steela said,

"In that, I have no doubt," Obi-Wan replied, with a soft smile on his face. Anakin stepped forward next,

"You must rally the people next, you will need their support. Your ability to influence them will also determine your capacity to represent them. Not only on the battlefield but also off of it, against your enemies, even in your own ranks. Your commitment will inspire others. Your conviction will lead to victory."

"After tonight's efforts the people will be ready to follow," Obi-Wan finished, "You will need a leader for them to rally behind." he purposely looked at Steela, making it clear that was his suggestion for their leader. Esinon noticed Rex doing the same. Steela didn't seem to notice and instead looked expectantly up at her older brother.

**A few minutes later…**

"We need to build our momentum," Saw said, "And continue our attacks to keep them off their balance."

"We have to assure people of our intention. If we keep disrupting their lives, we risk alienating them." Lux said, "We have to gain their trust,"

"I agree with both of you," Steela said, "We can balance both. We also need to recruit others to join us." She turned to the other rebels in the room. "Onderon is ours. We will remind everyone and keep reminding them until we get it back!" She pumped a victorious fist into the air. A chorus of 'Onderon is ours' and 'freedom' chanted into the air, Steela certainly knew how to give a pep talk.

"All in favor of Steela as our leader!" a rebel in the back yelled, "raise your hand!" every hand in the room went into the air,

"Okay," Saw said, "It's been decided, you're our leader," he clapped her shoulder before downing the rest of his drink and storming out of the room.

"Saw!" Steela started to head after her brother, but Lux grabbed her arm.

"Let him go, he just needs to blow off some steam. He'll be back," Steela finally nodded,

"I'll be back," Esinon whispered to Ahsoka before slipping out. She followed Saw's fuming force signature up to the roof where he was sitting on the opposite edge, watching the streets below. "Mind if I join you?" she asked, walking towards him and waiting for his approval before sitting down next to him. Saw gave a huff before conceding and she sat down.

"What do you want?" he asked, pulling his infrared goggles down over his eyes and fiddling with his blaster.

"You know you can't see the stars with those on," Esinon said, flopping onto her back and staring at the expanse of galaxy that lay above her.

"They're the stars, I see them every night," Saw said grumpily, "I thought you'd see enough stars on those fancy cruisers you Jedi ride around in."

"Trust me Saw, you never miss something until it's gone," he glanced at her, pushing up his goggles,

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I didn't realize how much the stars meant to me until I couldn't see them anymore. Being put into a coal factory and slavery gives you perspective on a lot of things." Saw glanced at her,

"That was you?" he asked slowly, Esinon hummed,

"Yep, I was a slave for two weeks. Got all the scars to prove it," she replied, Saw flopped down next to her,

"There a point to all of this talk about stars, or are you saying that I should become a slave to get perspective," he asked, Esinon rolled her eyes.

"I've learned a lot of things while being in this war as long as I have." She sat up and stared down at him, "People are there one day and gone the next. Don't fight with your sister, I know you're upset that people don't want you as a leader anymore but that's not something you can control. Your sister could die tomorrow and I'm telling you right now that if you are going to be part of open war, you better go into it with no regrets." she said sternly, "I called a clone I consider my brother this morning and said goodbye because I don't know if I'm going to come back. You _never _know Saw. I've seen entire platoons get wiped out on standard ops. When you live in wartime you have to live every single second of your life as if it's going to be your last. I hate Lux Bonteri with every fiber of my being for messing up those peace negotiations- my entire kriffing future- but I have saved his life more than once because I don't want Lux to die tomorrow and have known that I didn't make an effort to protect him. That's something that only experience has taught me."

"It's because you're selfless." Saw said, "I could tell you didn't like Bonteri from the moment we appeared in front of the Jedi Council, but that would never stop you, because you're selfless. Me- I'm not like you. I look out for myself,"

"I wouldn't say that," she replied, flopping back down next to him. "You put together an entire rebellion to get your planet back. You're doing this for your people, not yourself. And sure, you have some selfish tendencies, all lifeforms do. It's our nature to look out for ourselves, but it is the truly noble people in the galaxy that push past their base instincts for the interest of others."

"Is that one of the requirements to be a Jedi?" Saw asked in a joking tone, Esinon glanced at him. "Well, my mom used to say that that was the Jedi's main purpose, to be an example of selflessness." She paused for a moment,

"Yeah… I guess that does make sense,"

"What? Have you never been told that before?" Saw asked, Esinon shook her head.

"I was assigned as a padawan during an active battle. All I've known outside the temple walls is war. So… I'm told that I am a peacekeeper, but I don't think that's realistic. I know I'm a soldier, I hold military rank. But maybe… selflessness. That's what Jedi should aspire for," the two sat for a few minutes in silence, "But Saw, maybe the selfless thing is let Steela be the leader, do something for your people. Do whatever you need to do to get Onderon back." Saw sat up,

"I guess you're right," he replied, "Thanks Commander," he started to get up and head back towards the room below.

"You can call me Esinon," she replied,

"Alright Esinon, thanks," she gave him a nod as he disappeared over the side of the building.

* * *

**Alright, alright, alright, I finally started picking up speed on this arc! I finished writing it last night. **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: not relevant but, ****Esinon loves swimming because of Nadar and Master Fisto**

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review!**


	48. The Soft War

Esinon walked through the streets of Iziz, gripping a holo-recorder. She shifted among the people, a young twi'lek boy stared up at her. Esinon smiled down at him before putting a finger to her lips, the young twi'lek nodded and let Esinon move on. She quickly placed the transmitter and disappeared back into the population. She shifted through the streets and people until she met back up with Lux.

"Is everything set up?" she whispered, he nodded,

"Ahsoka should be back in a few minutes," a few moments later Ahsoka appeared.

"There's a bigger droid transport, two platoons, and two tanks," Ahsoka said,

"Hope they're ready for a big attack," Esinon murmured,

"The rebels can handle it," Lux replied,

"I wasn't talking about the rebels." A few minutes later loud screaming and explosions filled the streets and Esinon, Ahsoka, and Lux waited in an alley until it was time. Steela signaled them and with a few presses of Ahsoka's gauntlet, large holograms of the rebel leader appeared through the streets of Iziz.

"People of Onderon," Steela began, "the time has come to take back our freedom. We all have been deceived. King Rash is a traitor who has sold Onderon to the Separatists for the crown. But Onderon is ours. We need your strength to reclaim our planet, and restore our sovereignty under our true king, King Dendup." Esinon could hear murmurs rippling through the street as Steela's hologram disappeared.

"Hopefully this works," Lux said, both Jedi ignored him for a moment as they sifted through the different force signatures in the streets.

"The people are a bit fearful," Ahsoka murmured,

"But they have resolve, they think this might work," Esinon replied,

"Really?" Lux exclaimed, Esinon glared at him,

"Keep it down, but yes," she replied, "You've given the people hope, but now we've really gotten King Rash and Dooku's attention. More droids will be coming."

"Esinon's right Lux, we can never let our guard down," Ahsoka added, the Senator quickly nodded and the three of them headed off.

* * *

Thunder cracked through the sky as rain pounded against the rebels' hideout as they started to move supplies in.

"Okay guys, put it in the back with the rest," Ahsoka said, Esinon crossed her arms, shifting her eyes along the street for droid activity. She was immediately ripped from her thoughts when a rebel yelled for Steela,

"Steela!" She shouted, sprinting down the stairs, "They're executing King Dendup tomorrow in Yohlan square tomorrow!" Steela glanced at the Jedi and then turned back to the rebel in shock,

"Where did you hear this?"

"Malgan Market. The merchants," the rebel replied, "The Separatists are saying that he's behind our attacks," Steela scoffed,

"More lies," She muttered, "They're making him an example to humiliate us," they all entered the hideout,

"Maybe, but their efforts could work against them," Ahsoka began,

"Executing him would only make him a martyr," Esinon finished,

"We can't let him die," Saw exclaimed, "We have to break him out now!"

"No, we should wait until he's in public, at the execution," Steela said,

"That's where they'd expect it," he argued,

"I know but this is our moment," she replied, trying to reason with her brother, "We'll save him for all of Iziz to see. We don't have much time,"

"They're counting on us showing up!" Saw snapped, he began marching towards the door.

"Where are you going?" she asked,

"Trust me," Saw said,

"Stop," Steela ordered, Saw didn't stop. Why wasn't he listening to Steela? Or Esinon?

'_Come on Saw, you don't want to regret any of this.' _He finally froze,

"Let me take care of this," Saw said a little more forcefully,

"This isn't about you,"

"We can't afford a reckless move right now," Lux said,

"Yeah?" Saw growled, "Go write a speech about it," Lux scowled at him,

"You have to weigh the risk," Ahsoka said,

'_He's gonna do what he wants,' _Esinon thought to herself,

"That's why I'm going alone," Saw replied, he disappeared around the corner into the rain. Esinon followed after him for a moment,

"Esinon, where are you going?" Ahsoka asked,

"After Saw, he's gonna get himself killed," she said,

"You can't," Ahsoka said, "We're here to advise, not to fight,"

"You know what Ahsoka, I don't care. Enough of these rebels have died because we've done barely anything. If we as Jedi can't act on any of the knowledge we have, this war will be over as we know it. I'm not gonna sit here and let more people die when I know that I could have saved them."

"That's what we were ordered to do," Ahsoka snapped, now both of them were standing in the rain, getting soaked.

"Well, you can try and stop me. Tell the council for all I care, even if I get in trouble I will know that I saved someone's life."

"Why do you always have to be so stubborn!" Ahsoka shouted, "I'm in charge!"

"No one ever said that! I'm the one who's been looking out for you this entire time! I'm the only one who has been focused! You've been too busy fighting over Lux with Steela!" Esinon instantly regretted saying that out-loud because she saw Ahsoka's face go bright red and Lux glanced between the three girls.

"I thought you were my friend," the togruta whispered,

"I am your friend," Esinon said, "But right now you're acting like my superior officer. I'm going whether you like it or not." And with that, Esinon sprinted away, trying to ignore Ahsoka's desperate cries of her name.

* * *

Esinon didn't use her speed at the moment because she could only focus on one thing at a time, and the thing she was focusing on was Saw's force signature. He had a significant headstart on her, she just needed to get to him before he got caught. He wasn't trained for this like she was. Esinon picked up the pace as she bobbed and weaved through the streets of Iziz towards the palace. She knew that's where they'd be holding King Dendup. She felt sick, she knew she shouldn't have been so mean to Ahsoka, or run off, but she knew somehow that Saw was going to get himself in trouble. Esinon had never been the best about… listening to the council, or adhering to the code but after being a slave- after sepsis, Kadavo? She couldn't just sit anymore, she had to act, too many people had died because she- and the Jedi had failed to act.

She finally skidded to a halt in front of the palace, she scanned the edge and found no security cameras; she quickly bounded up between the pillars to the roof. She peered down through the open-air roof into a greenhouse. Weird that they were keeping the King in here, this certainly wasn't a prison cell. She saw Saw below talking to the King,

"Saw," she hissed, "Saw Gerrera," he finally glanced up at her and did a double-take.

"Esinon?" he asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Making sure you don't do something too stupid, now come on, get the King and let's move! Before droids show up," King Dendup glanced from her to Saw,

"I suggest you listen to her," he said, Saw nodded, pulling a grappling gun from his belt. He fired it and it immediately reflected back at him and the roof became engulfed in a red shield, and searchlights flashed over the building into the greenhouse. Esinon instantly pressed herself against the wall so that no one would see her. Well this was just going perfectly. Loud sirens blared and Esinon scrunched her eyes shut for a moment as she tried to regain her bearings. She watched as droids came running around the corner and grabbed Saw restraining him. To her surprise, he didn't call out for her.

'_He knows he can't, he knows that will blow my cover… he's trusting me to come and get him.'_

* * *

Esinon had inspected the palace for almost an hour before she'd come up with a viable plan to get Saw out of there. She could already sense his pain, no doubt they were torturing him. What Esinon didn't know is Steela had sent a rebel to follow the both of them and had already reported back that Saw had been captured. And Steela had made the decision to leave her brother. Esinon snuck down a tower, making it through a small window. She landed, peering around the corner for droid guards. She needed to find an info port to figure out where they were holding Saw. She used her speed to begin searching the halls, avoiding droids, and guards, all while searching for Saw. She finally skidded to a halt when she heard a blast door whoosh, she instantly disappeared around a corner. She watched from the shadows as a pair of droids dragged a barely conscious Saw behind them and a bearded man in ornate clothing followed after them. She needed a way to follow them without being spotted… Her mind started pumping at a million miles a minute.

'_I could use my speed somehow… phasing. Phasing! Phasing is vibrating at the frequency of air… people can't see air! So if I could vibrate myself that fast without sinking through the floor. Ok… just need to concentrate. Just gonna standstill, really fast.' _She took a deep breath and concentrated beginning to vibrate herself, soon she'd become invisible to the naked eye and began to follow after the droids and the man. They snaked through hallways until they dragged Saw into a new room and the droids were ordered to leave.

She ducked around a corner and stumbled slightly as she fell out of her long-held phase, she panted for a moment, feeling exhausted. That was a lot harder than she expected it was going to be.

She stretched out through the force and could feel Saw's force signature, it wasn't in as much pain as it had been earlier, but he was definitely still hurting. So she assumed they'd stopped torturing him and that they had moved him to a holding cell, except she could feel the force signature of the man in ornate clothing in the room as well.

She could feel his force signature… swaying? Had Saw turned the tables?

"Focus Windcaster," she murmured to herself, she pulled her dagger from her boot and poked her head around the corner and found the hallway completely empty. She crept over to the door panel and used her speed to whip through combinations on the lock pad before it blinked green and whooshed open. She launched herself into the room, tackling the man away from Saw and pressing him up against the wall with her dagger to his throat,

"Es-"

"Don't say my name," Esinon commanded and Saw snapped his mouth shut.

"Did you get to King Dendup?" Saw said after a moment, the man tried to move in Esinon's split second of distraction, but she grabbed his tunic slamming against the wall again.

"If you value your life buddy, I wouldn't move," she snarled, she had no intention of killing this guy, but he didn't know that. "And no, that's not my concern right now," Esinon used her opposite hand to deliver a swift punch to the man's jaw and he slumped underneath her. She dropped him to the floor and sheathed her dagger, "Come on, we gotta move now," she grabbed onto his shoulder, "This might feel… um- fast?" Saw gave her a confused look,

"What's that supposed to-" she took off a superspeed with Saw and ran through the streets of Iziz until she found an abandoned section of the city that would be good for them to hunker down for the night. She finally slowed to a stop and Saw blinked his eyes a few times, looking pale.

"You ok?" Saw glanced at her, hand still gripping her shoulder tightly.

"That was fast," he murmured, "Ugh, I'm nauseous. How do you do that all the time? I might throw up,"

"Well I'm used to it," she said with a wince of sympathy when he dry heaved. "And sorry, I couldn't think of a better way to get us out quickly,"

"It's fine, thanks for coming to get me," he said, he looked around the street finally realizing that they hadn't gone back to the rebel's hideout. "Wait a second, why didn't we go back to the hideout?" Esinon began to slowly guide him inside, he was moving slowly and there were substantial bruises and cuts on his face and arms.

"In case the droids are able to track us down if they tracked us back to the hideout your rebellion would be over." She sat him down on an old couch, scanning the inside of the room. There was a sink, some old furniture, maybe if she looked hard enough she'd find some blankets. Nights on Onderon weren't exactly warm. "Stay there, don't go to sleep. I'm going for a look around."

"Why can't I sleep?" Saw grumbled, "I'm tired," she tapped her own forehead where a cut lay on Saw's.

"Head injuries are nasty," she replied, "If you go to sleep, you might not wake up again." Saw stared at her a little shocked, "I'll be back," after a few minutes of searching she managed to find some old blankets in a cupboard. Esinon had heard that when the Separatists came to Iziz, they forced all of the people on the outer edges of the city to move inward so they could keep track of everyone. It looked like whoever had lived here only took the bare essentials. She ripped off the corner of a blanket creating a make-shift washcloth and soaking it in water before starting to clean the cuts on Saw's face and arms. He was quiet for the most part- a first really- while she worked. "Follow my finger," she said eventually, he did, struggling slightly. "Looks like you've got a mild concussion, and there's some electrical damage plus the bruises and cuts. Nothing's infected or broken so with some rest you should be fine,"

"Where'd you learn all this stuff?" Saw asked, watching her shift silently around the room.

"Reg manuals, experience," she replied, motioning for him to lay down, and Saw did. He watched her again as she began to mess with her dagger,

"I just noticed this but you wear armor, Commander Tano doesn't, why?" he asked,

'_Saw's more curious than I thought, probably some of the concussion though. And some people are different when they're alone with other people. Fives is the same way… he's a lot more gentle and kind with me when we're alone instead of being his usual brash self.' _

"Well Ahsoka hasn't worn armor since before the war began. Something about togruta having higher body temp than humans do. I dunno, Rex and I once tried to have an intervention with her about it, but nothing ever came of it. I'm more attached to my armor I guess…" she tapered off, she didn't really share the reason why often.

"Why?" Saw asked, Esinon sighed,

"If I tell you, will you go to sleep?"

"I thought I couldn't go to sleep," he teased, Esinon rolled her eyes, "And yeah- sure,"

"The last time I took off my armor for a mission I died. I was severely injured and my heart stopped beating for six minutes. Some parts of war you bring back with you." she said, going to sit by the door, "I'll wake you in a few hours,"

"What about tomorrow?" he asked,

"We're going to King Dendup's execution, I know by now that the rebels and Ahsoka have come up with some sort of plan to get him out. We just have to be there to help them." she said, she let out a harsh breath. She knew she should com Ahsoka… but they needed some space. And Ahsoka needed to get her priorities.

**The next morning…**

Saw and Esinon slunk through the crowd towards the front of Yohlan square. She had already spotted a handful of rebels, she pulled her DC-17 out of her belt.

"Here, you're gonna need this," she murmured, passing it to Saw. "But I want that back, that one's my favorite,"

"Thanks, but aren't Jedi supposed to fight with lightsabers only?" he asked, Esinon sighed,

"Just- yes but I don't follow the rules sometimes," he shrugged, hiding the blaster within the folds of his cloaks. "Also Saw, I… I can't help you this time. I'm in enough trouble as it is,"

"You came back for me, I think I owe you more than you owe me," he replied, Esinon smiled up at him for a moment before focusing back up.

"Go find Steela, I'm sure she can give you an abbreviated version of the plan," Saw gave her a nod of thanks before disappearing. She scanned the execution stand, there were two magna's holding electro staffs next to an uncharged rey shield. There were at least twenty B-1s, along with two more magnas escorting King Dendup… and a tactical droid. That's where they were getting all of the new droids, Dooku had sent reinforcements. King Rash was walking in the front until he reached the guillotine.

"As your king," Rash began, "I present to you Ramsis Dendup not as a former King, but as a criminal sponsoring terrorist acts against the people of Onderon. But fear not good citizens, as your leader and protectorate, I will see that you are safe from such villainy. He has betrayed you, and today he will pay for those treasonous deeds… with his life." King Dendup was forced onto his knees as Rash smiled cruelly down at him. He then said something to Dendup that Esinon couldn't hear and cackled, he then took a bite out of a pear before dropping it into the uncharged rey shield. The Magnas readied their electro-staffs and drove them into the ports on the side of the guillotine. A smoking half of the pear slid down the stairs towards the watching crowd, Esinon grimaced. That certainly was a gruesome death. Rash motioned forward and the Magna grabbed Rash's shoulder and guided his head into the rey shield. "Ready weapons!" the magnas slammed their staffs into the ground and lifted their staffs into a ready position as Rash lifted his hand.

"_Steela's certainly waiting till the last second,' _Esinon thought nervously to herself. King Rash signaled and before the magnas could execute Dendup a cry went through the crowd.

"Now!" Steela shouted, she jumped up onto Lux's shoulder as he tossed her her rifle and took out the two magnas next to the guillotine. Someone tossed a pair of smoke grenades onto the platform and suddenly the platform was engulfed in smoke. Blaster fire sounded as Esinon watched blurry forms of rebels leap up onto the stage and take out multiple droids. A droid popper went off cascading light and electric sparkles around the droids. Esinon could vaguely tell what was happening, but from her vantage point and through all the smoke she couldn't tell who was winning. She assumed that the rebels were winning because the number of red flashes was diminishing. A few seconds later the rebels emerged from the smoke surrounding King Dendup in a defensive circle.

"This way! Come on! Let's go!" a rebel shouted as the crowd started to open a pathway. She was instantly shot through the chest by oncoming B2s. Seeing that that exit was blocked, Steela and the rebels took off in a different direction but were soon met with more droids. The rebels were surrounded from all sides,

"Surrender now or die," the tactical droid ordered after regaining its bearings.

"It's over," King Dendup said, "Do as they say," and with that, the rebels laid their weapons down. The B2s backed up the defenseless up the stairs back towards the guillotine, the crowd let out roars of abuse towards King Rash.

"Calm yourselves," King Rash said, rubbing the back of his head where a rebel had whacked him, "the threat is over, see for yourselves these traitors endure the same punishment." King Dendup was once again forced to his knees and his head placed through the shield. Esinon started to make a beeline for the front of the square when she spotted another cloaked figure doing the same, she squinted and realized she recognized those peaks at the top of the cloak. Guess Ahsoka couldn't resist helping these rebels either, "Ready weapons," King Rash said to the magna replacements,

"They're innocent, let them go!" Someone in the crowd shouted, King Rash raised his hand above his head.

"The snake will not strike again,"

"Stop!" a man called from behind King Rash, Esinon stared at him, it was the ornate man she'd knocked out last night, with the entire Onderon army. Saw actually got through to him? "The only snake I see sire, is you," Esinon instantly froze, as the army surrounded the remaining droids, the General aimed his staff at King Rash's face,

"Traitor," Rash spat,

"I was," the General said, he then turned his gaze to Saw and the rebels, "But not anymore," Lux helped up King Dendup as the General put King Rash in a chokehold.

"What are you doing?" Rash cried, the rebels started down the stairs, guarding King Dendup, they picked up their weapons and started to leave, part of the army following after them. A few seconds later the rest of the army followed as the crowd cleared a path for the rebels. As soon as all of the rebels and the army had disappeared the B2s lowered their blasters towards the General who was still holding King Rash. "What now General? As soon as you release me you'll be shot dead." Two destroyers rolled out at the command of the tactical droid, just as Esinon was about to leap into the fray Ahsoka beat her to it. Ahsoka leapt into the air igniting her lightsaber. The padawan's cloak's hood fell off of her montrals as she used the force to knock over every droid on the square in one fell swoop. "Jedi?"

"Follow me, General," Ahsoka said, the General shoved Rash to the ground and followed after the togruta Jedi. Esinon quickly made her way through the crowd to meet up with Ahsoka,

* * *

It was only a few minutes to walk before they reached the hideout, the General went in without them and before Esinon could even say anything Ahsoka had rammed into her with a tight hug.

"I don't want to fight anymore," she whispered, Esinon let out a shuddered sigh,

"I'm sorry I ran off," she mumbled, Ahsoka pulled away,

"But you were right, I haven't been exactly focused on this mission. And I'm sorry,"

"I haven't exactly been at my best either," Esinon replied,

"But I think Steela will want to talk to you, she was pretty surprised to find her brother at her side this morning," Ahsoka said, starting into the hideout,

"I can turn invisible now," Esinon said, Ahsoka glanced at her,

"What how?"

"Like a sort of phasing, I just phase myself and don't sink through the floor," she explained, Ahsoka raised a brow marking,

"Well, don't use it to prank me,"

"No promises," By the time the two Jedi had entered the hideout King Dendup had just finished whatever speech he had been giving,

"Then we'll just have to teach them another lesson!" Saw exclaimed, cheers went throughout the crowd and Esinon slipped off to the side when she saw Lux coming towards Ahsoka. She watched the rebels mill about when she saw Saw coming forward, he handed her her DC-17.

"Returned as promised," he said, she smirked,

"Thanks, glad it didn't get taken away by all those droids,"

"I did see you start for the stage, the council must love all of your disregards for the rules,"

"I've let my powers become stagnant too many times, I have to save as many lives as I can."

"You know, maybe some of those experiences haven't been so good -the ones that you couldn't save people- but they've formed you into the person you are today, and I think that person is pretty awesome." Saw replied,

* * *

Esinon and Ahsoka sat in front of Anakin and Obi-Wan, and surprisingly Obi-Wan didn't look upset with her. Did Ahsoka not tell them that she'd run off?

"The Separatists definitely know we're backing the rebels," Ahsoka said sheepishly,

"Then prepare yourself," Master Kenobi said, "The real fight is about to begin,"

"Will you be able to send some help?" Esinon asked,

"That's up to the council, Esinon," Anakin replied,

'_Kriff the council,' _Esinon thought bitterly,

* * *

**HEY! I'M BACK! **

**I've missed you all! School is... hard. I've already got a lot of homework and it's only the third day. I guess I should have seen this coming taking AP classed but... still gonna complain about it. **

**Anyways, Esinon and Saw's friendship is fun :) **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: *cough* if Korkie ever found out about Saw he would be threatened. **

**Also eagles eyes98 indeed, we'll know that Esinon would be doing the exact same if it was Korkie lol **

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	49. Tipping points

**A few days later…**

Esinon sat near the edge of the cliff, her eyes closed in meditation while listening to Saw pace behind her.

"Do you think you could pace any quieter?" Esinon asked, focusing on Ahsoka's force signature that was miles away in the city of Iziz. Saw scoffed and didn't let up on his pacing, "The hologram message worked last time, we will get the backing of the people. Unlike you, I was able to watch the people at the execution. They just need one more little push to assure them that we can win."

"But what if it isn't enough?" Saw asked,

"What? Don't you trust your King?" she asked, Saw gave another huff, "Can't you trust me?" he finally stopped and sat down next to her.

"I don't understand how you're so calm, don't you ever worry your plan isn't going to work?"

"All the time, but I have to have faith in myself," she replied, "Faith in my leaders,"

"But you are the leader,"

"I was only a General for four months, and it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life," she replied, "but I had people to help me along the way, you're not alone Saw. Don't forget that,"

"Are you just like an ATM of advice?" he joked, Esinon rolled her eyes,

"Lots of this stuff we couldn't cover in the crash course of your training. And I learned all of this from other people and experience," she said, sitting back on her palms.

"Do you have anything you want to do? Like after the war," Saw asked, Esinon paused for a moment… she hadn't really thought about that. She wanted to spend more time with her family, maybe marry Korkie, make sure the clones got rights and were safe, just have movie nights with Ahsoka and Xavier like when they were younger.

"I dunno, I guess- I've kinda forgotten what normal life looks like. Besides, my life is dictated by the council, unless I-"

"Unless you what?" Esinon sighed,

"Left. Unless I left, but that's not gonna happen," she said, getting to her feet and brushing off her robes. Before Saw could ask any more questions, a ruping screeched as it landed on top of a structure. She and Saw sprinted upwards to meet Lux and Ahsoka,

"The people are turning against the droids," Lux announced, "There's rioting in the streets,"

"That's a beautiful thing," Saw said, clapping Lux on the shoulder.

"We need to keep the battle on the outskirts of the city," Steela said, stroking the ruping's head.

"Less structures and people," Lux said, shifting his weight to his other foot.

"But less clankers," Saw replied, "Their main force is in Iziz. We should join the fight down there and take it straight to King Rash."

'_And we are straight back to the brash decision making, he really is different alone,' _Esinon thought to herself,

"We all want victory but not at the cost of innocent lives." Steela argued, "If we fight door to door, no one is safe,"

"This is war Steela," Saw said with an exasperated sigh, King Dendup stepped forward,

"She's right,"

"I agree," Ahsoka said,

"So do I," Esinon said, "If you draw the droids out to the highlands, the safer the people will be,"

"Droids have never been shy about using civilians as living shields," Ahsoka added, the rebels' eyes went wide. Obviously new information to them.

"My men await your command, my lord," General Tandin said, giving the King a slight bow.

"I believe there is a new contender," The King said, turning to Steela. "You will lead our forces, including the Royal Army," Steela stared at King Dendup in shock, he walked towards her, "Steela is now the commanding General," he announced,

"A great choice," Ahsoka said,

"As you wish my lord," General Tandin said, bowing his head.

"You and your rebels renewed my faith in myself," Dendup said, "Now I'm putting my faith in you," he placed a hand on Steela's shoulder,

"Thank you, your majesty," Steela said with a small bow of her head. "Let's ride," Saw gave a nod as Esinon followed Steela towards a ruping. Lux started towards Steela but for the moment she ignored him, Esinon climbed up onto the ruping and just as she was about to help Steela onto it she backtracked and grabbed Lux, pressed a fierce kiss to his lips. Esinon instantly glanced at Ahsoka who turned her gaze away from the intertwined pair. As soon as Ahsoka looked back up at her when the kiss had finished Esinon signed to her,

'_Sorry it didn't work out between you and Lux,' _

'_It was never going to, Jedi can't have significant others, 'member?' _

'_Yeah I know, but it's still hard seeing a guy you like kiss someone else,' _

'_And you have experience in this department?' _Ahsoka joked, Esinon rolled her eyes and was about to respond when Steela interrupted.

"Where did you guys learn sign language?" she asked, jumping onto the ruping and grabbing the reins.

"Well, most of the clones know it, at least the ones who know ARC symbols. If you learn ARC symbols, you can learn sign language pretty easily," Esinon replied, Steela shrugged,

"I swear Jedi are just smarter than everybody,"

"We do spend a lot of time studying," Esinon said, smiling as she saw Ahsoka playfully shove Lux's shoulder. So at least they could still be friends. Steela snapped the reins and the ruping took off into the air.

* * *

Steela's ruping landed swiftly on the cliff letting Esinon and Steela jump off walking towards Lux and Ahsoka.

"The droid army is almost here," Steela reported, "Everyone get ready," Ahsoka gave her a glance of 'how bad is it really' Esinon shot her back a look of, 'it's hard to tell,' with the Republic army this would be a textbook battle, but the rebels didn't have the numbers or experience that the GAR had. Esinon watched as the rebels below marched towards the droid army, some of them on Tee-Muss as they continued forward. Esinon and Ahsoka had been ordered to sit this out but she doubted that her lightsaber would stay on her belt for the whole battle.

"Saw, being your attack," Steela said through her comlink, Esinon watched as a group of four ruping circled down the canyon and began their bombing run on the droid ranks. The rebels below charged, and destroyed stacks and stacks of droids as the ruping began another bombing run on a troop transport. And for just a brief moment, the rebels were winning! They were winning big time, and then like all good things, it came to end. Four enormous Separatist gunships pulled over the horizon and unleashed a fury of fire decimating rows upon rows of rebels before they could even react. Esinon had never even seen that type of gunship. The gunship swooped down dangerously close to their position and shot out a heavy gunner above them. "No!" Steela shouted,

"Where did that come from?" Lux asked, Esinon rolled her eyes,

"That giant gunship Bonteri!" she shouted, motioning to the aircraft. Steela and Lux began firing at the gunship, and just when they thought things couldn't get any worse the blaster bolts evaporated on the gunship's rey shield.

"Any ideas?" Steela shouted,

"Yeah, run!" Ahsoka said, taking off in the other direction, Esinon leapt into the air as the gunship started to barrage their position. The rock fell out from underneath her feet as it was shredded by the gunship's blasters. She yelped and scrambled trying to regain her footing, Steela swung the tuping around, as Esinon managed to grab onto a rock with only one hand.

"Let go!" she called, "I'm gonna catch you!" In an act of blind trust, she let go and Steela caught her.

"Alright, let's go," Esinon said breathlessly, they flew for a few minutes until they met up with Lux and Ahsoka and found a new position. Esinon darted back with Ahsoka who had already contacted Obi-Wan and Anakin.

"I take it the rebels have Dooku's full attention," Obi-Wan commented as another explosion went off in the background.

"It's a full scale war!" Ahsoka shouted,

"They need our help," Esinon added, listening to a loud scream that sounded below.

"Please talk to the council!"

"Even Master Windu would be wary at this point," Obi-Wan said, "The Council will not engage or involve the Republic in an internal affair," Before Esinon could argue, Ahsoka had butt in.

"The Separatists have a new gunship with a powerful ray shield," Ahsoka said, "Nothings getting past it,"

"I'm sorry Ahsoka," Obi-Wan replied, "They will have to find a way, do not stay there if their failure is certain. Evacuate who you can and return to Coruscant immediately. Do you understand?"

"Yes Master," Ahsoka said obediently, and turned off the transmission before Esinon could argue.

"We can't just abandon them!" Esinon shouted, this hit too close to home for her.

"We're not abandoning them…" Ahsoka tapered off, knowing that was exactly what they would be doing.

"Unbelievable," she said, walking off exasperated,

"Is the Republic going to help us?" Lux asked, Esinon took a knee next to him, pulling out her blaster.

"No," Esinon said,

"What is it going to take?" he shouted over the flak explosions in desperation,

"King Rash rules Onderon," she explained, "Unless that changes the Jedi Council has decided that the Republic can't do anything,"

"They're pulling back!" Steela called as the rebels came rushing towards them as they sprinted away from the droid army. "Cover them," after a few more seconds they sprinted back to their ruping to regroup at the nest.

* * *

"The highlands may slow the droids, but it won't stop those gunships," Saw said,

"We have to move," Steela argued,

"Any word from Master Skywalker yet?" Lux asked, Ahsoka shook her head. Anakin had promised that help was on its way, just not what kind of help.

"Not yet," Ahsoka replied, the room went quiet for a moment until Steela sighed and balled her fist.

"We're not giving up yet." she said, she then turned to Saw. "Stagger our defenses to the camp. Secure the approach. Stay in small teams, make use of our training," she ordered, Saw smiled,

"You really are the best leader among us, I couldn't be more proud of you, my sister." he said, Steela smiled softly, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I learned from the best, big brother," she replied,

"Let's go General," Saw said, giving a nod to General Tandin who followed after him. Lux turned to Ahsoka and Esinon,

"You have to help us," he said,

"We can do all we can to protect you, but we can't fight this war for you." Ahsoka replied, Lux scoffed before storming off,

"We wouldn't have made it this far without you both," Steela said,

"We wish we could do more," Esinon replied, an engine roared outside and she glanced up to see a large transport pulling. She recognized the ship immediately and sprinted outside, and ten blasters were already trained on the pirates exiting with large crates. "Hold your fire!" Steela and Lux skidded to a halt in front of the pirates, wielding blasters. Hondo chuckled looking Steela over,

"Well, you could be my new favorite spice," he said, Steela scoffed,

"Yeah, I don't think so,"

"Careful pirate," Lux snarled, jabbing his blaster in Hondo's face. Esinon shoved his blaster down,

"What do you want, Hondo? What are you doing here?" Esinon glanced behind the pirate and spotted two human bounty hunters unloading crates, she couldn't see their faces since they were both wearing masks. The female one came and stood by Hondo while the other slunk off into the ship as soon as he got a glance at Ahsoka,

"Mini Kenobi!" Hondo exclaimed, clapping her on the shoulder, "I thought you'd be more happy to see me old friend,"

"This guy's your friend?" Lux asked in disgust,

"Keep your trap shut Bonteri, or I'll make you pay," Esinon snapped and Lux backed away remembering her deadly precision with a knife.

"Yes, she is very scary," Hondo said, smirking at Lux. "And Mini Kenobi, you should thank me, because I brought you a gift from your Master and Skywalker." a pirate pulled a lid off of one of the containers revealing-

"Rocket launchers," Ahsoka murmured,

"The latest from Sinear," Hondo explained, "Shoulder fired, very expensive."

"Paid for?" Esinon asked skeptically,

"Very handsome-" a blaster shot fired near Hondo's head, "Oh my! Look at the time!" the four of them whipped around to see commandos flipping towards them. Esinon pulled out her lightsaber and began deflecting bolts, "Well, my work here is done," A few seconds later the ship took off and Esinon noticed that some of Hondo's crew had been left behind.

"Typical Hondo," she muttered as one of the male bounty hunters started to yell into his comlink. A few seconds later, the commando droids had been vanquished.

"Ugh," Lux grumbled, "They must have seen Hondo's ship,"

"It was only a patrol," Ahsoka assured them, Esinon walked over to inspect the launchers,

"And quit complaining Bonteri, these are high grade rocket launchers. Strong enough to get through a rey shield like the one on those gunships," she said, holding one up and inspecting it. Lux knelt down and began slinging the launchers over his shoulders, Steela and Ahsoka did the same.

"We have to get these down to the others," he said,

"Let's load up," Steela replied,

"I hope these work," Ahsoka muttered,

"They will," Esinon said, "As much as I don't trust Hondo, I recognize this model. They're operational."

"Well, I trust you," Ahsoka said, Esinon nodded and slung some of the rocket launchers over her shoulder and followed Lux and Steela to the ruping. A few moments later they had arrived at the front lines where Saw was busy trying to blast as many droids as possible while trying to hold off the gunships.

"We've tried everything, but we're target practice for those gunships!" Saw shouted,

"Now it's their turn," Steela said, passing him a rocket launcher. Esinon started to hand out the launchers to the rebels "Thank the Jedi," Saw grinned at the rocket launcher, he dashed out in front of his cover and placed the launcher on his shoulder and blasted the missile towards the gunship. The missile hit directly on the gunship and it went spiraling to the ground. Saw chuckled,

"I love this!" he exclaimed, the rebels let out cheers and whoops at the sight of smoking remains of the gunship.

"Distribute the rocket launchers and take out those gunships," Steela ordered, her comlink crackled to life,

"Steela, they're attacking the nest. They're after the king!"

"Come on!" Steela said, Esinon jumped onto their ruping, helping Steela climb on. Lux and Ahsoka followed on a seperate ruping since Steela and Esinon had gotten a head start. By the time they had reached the nest it was already smoking, and there was a gunship. Steela placed a rocket launcher on her shoulder and Esion plastered her body to the ruping so that she could get a clear shot. A missile fired and unfortunately the gunship dodged and their ruping passed right through the gunship's line of fire. But they had managed to draw the fire of the gunship away from the King, so there was that.

"Get ready to jump!" Esinon said as she swung low towards a hangover, both of the women jumped off the ruping and bounced off the hangover to the ground as the ruping continued to draw the fire of the gunship. Steela once again fired a missile this time taking her target. More blaster fire went off and both of them whipped around to see two commando droids running after the king. Behind Steela and Esinon, two more commandos flipped out and began firing. Esinon drew her blade and began deflecting bolts. "I'll handle this! Get to the king!"

"Got it!" Steela shouted before taking off, Esinon swung her blade, managing to get the arm off of a commando while using her leg to hold off the other commando. Esinon flipped upward and grabbed the heads of the commandos smashing them together. She managed to crack one of the commando's heads and then stabbed her saber into the other one. She flipped backward at the sight of approaching B1s. She was quickly overwhelmed by the increase and fire and was pushed back but a few seconds later Ahsoka and Lux appeared. In a matter of seconds they had vanquished the B1s and Steela had gotten to the King.

And then it happened. It happened so fast. One second Esinon had felt relief, things were starting to look up for the rebels and it all crumbled in seconds. A crashing gunship was careening towards Steela's position, she pushed the King to the ground as the gunship dug into the ground and flipped over the two of them. Esinon fell into autopilot as the gunship came rushing towards them, she fell into speedster time and the world slowed. She saw Ahsoka and Lux diving away from the gunship, she used her speed to grab the two of them and tackled them off to the side. The world sped back up and Lux had already extricated himself from underneath Esinon's arm,

"Steela!" he cried, Esinon looked upward, to see the rock that Steela had been on moments ago had crumbled and she was hanging onto the cliff with her fingertips. Lux had already scrambled down the edge and was reaching out for her, Ahsoka jumped up and sprinted over to the pair. Esinon finally snapped back to reality as Lux screamed when he lost his grip and started to plummet towards the ground, but Ahsoka grabbed him with the force and carried him to safety.

"I'll handle this," Ahsoka said, nimbly scurrying down to Steela's position. Esinon knew she didn't need to crowd Ahsoka, she needed to focus. With a great amount of exertion, the padawan used the force to drag Steela upward.

The rebel leader was floating higher,

higher,

fingertips outstretched as they floated closer and closer.

Inches apart, both women stretched-

_POW! _

A blast fired from behind, one of the cannons on the gunship was still operational.

It hit Ahsoka straight in the shoulder, and she lost her grip on Steela. Esinon reacted on instinct as Ahsoka lost her footing and fell over the edge. Esinon reached out with one desperate hand and caught Ahsoka at the last second with the force.

She attempted to catch Steela with the opposite hand.

It was too late.

The rebel leader had hit the ground. Esinon used the rest of her strength to pull Ahsoka back up and instantly tucked the togruta's head under her chin. Ahsoka was shaking in her grip,

"Hey, hey, hey, I've got you," Esinon whispered, running a comforting hand up and down Ahsoka's back. Esinon watched Lux drop to his knees, his breathing ragged and uneven as he gripped his hair as he tried to find some sort of ground to make any of this make sense. "Lux, come here," she said softly, and for some strange reason he obeyed, slowly making his way over to her. "Look at me," The Senator's shaken eyes met her steady ones, "it's gonna be ok,"

"She can't- I don't-," he whispered, digging his fingers into his hair,

"It's called shock, I know, it's so hard, but Lux, I need you to look at me." she commanded gently, as she listened to his breathing drift towards the territory of hyperventilating.

"It wasn't supposed to be her," he said quietly, Esinon heard Ahsoka whimper and bury her face further in the crook of her neck.

"I know," Esinon said, gently taking Lux's hand. Before she could even register what was happening, Lux had wrapped her in a tight hug and had buried his head in her opposite shoulder. She quickly wrapped her free arm around him as she felt the sobs wrench their way out of his throat. "It's alright, I've got you," Esinon took a breath as she gently gripped both Lux and Ahsoka.

**A few hours later…**

"Ahsoka," Esinon said softly, Ahsoka hadn't moved from Steela's body in hours. A white sheet was covering the body where she lay in the palace, Esinon shifted her eyes from the body to look around the ornate halls for only a moment before turning her attention back to Ahsoka.

Everyone hated losing soldiers, but Esinon knew how this felt. How crushing the guilt was, she'd experienced feeling responsible for someone's death even if there was nothing she could do. She rubbed the foxtrot sigil on her hand, "What would you say to a clone who had just lost their brother?" she asked slowly,

"Were they the one that killed them?" Ahsoka asked quietly, her voice hoarse from screaming orders. Esinon knew the difference between mourning and dwelling. After Foxtrot's death, she'd dwelled, spiraling into fear and depression. It wasn't healthy.

"Come on Ahsoka, let's go," she said, extending a hand to the Togruta. Thankful Ahsoka took it and followed after Esinon. She knew that Ahsoka had quickly fallen into shock, especially when Esinon started searching for a place to tend her wound and Ahsoka took little to no interest in what she was doing. After a few more minutes of scanning, Esinon spotted the old rebel hideout. "Please say something," Esinon whispered in exasperation,

"It's loud," Ahsoka replied, the Scipian glanced at her friend, remembering that Togruta had more sensitive hearing than she did.

"Come on, it'll be quieter in here." Ahsoka followed and let Esinon guide her down onto a couch. She pulled out the medical kit she had snagged from a doctor in the palace, she opened it next to Ahsoka and grabbed a hypo. Ahsoka flinched, "Do you want to hold my hand?" Esinon asked genuinely, but Ahsoka only glared at her and Esinon took the opportunity of distraction to swiftly pressed the hypo into her thigh. Esinon then pulled out a clean rag from the medkit and walked over to the sink and began to soak the rag in water.

The rush from the tap seemed to snap Ahsoka from whatever space out she was just having.

"Have you talked to Saw?" Ahsoka asked suddenly, Esinon nodded as she walked back over and started to clean Ahsoka's wound. Thankfully the blast hadn't hit any bone. Esinon focused on getting the wound as clean as possible, and Ahsoka didn't even wince when she sprayed disinfectant over the wound. Shock had a funny way of masking pain.

"A few hours ago," she replied, Esinon had really been taking an emotional beating the last few hours. Saw had done all kinds of yelling and screaming and Esinon had been there. Lux had needed somebody to talk him out of shock. She had been there. And now Ahsoka needed her, and she was gonna be there. A few minutes later, Esinon had finished cleaning everything and moved in front of Ahsoka and held out two anti-shock pills. "Here, take these," Ahsoka obeyed and knocked them back dry before Esinon could hand her water. "Small sips,"

"I'm fine," Ahsoka snapped,

"Fine isn't how I would put it." Esinon said, rising from the couch and going back over to the sink and washing her hands of Ahsoka's blood.

"Quit telling me how I should feel," she bit back, Esinon rolled her eyes, with her back still facing Ahsoka.

"I know how you feel," she replied,

"No you don't. I killed Steela. I'm the one who has to live with this! No one understands!" Ahsoka shouted, Esinon threw down the rag she had been using to clean Ahsoka's wound, it slapped against the sink.

"I'm the only one who does understand Ahsoka!" she shouted, "I am one of the only people on this kriffing planet who understands how you feel! You think this is hard? Feeling responsible for one person's death? How about four other people? Half a platoon? A battalion? I have lived with this crushing guilt since I was fourteen, but you have to realize that it's because you survived." Esinon let out a harsh breath when she noticed her hands starting to crackle with electricity. She walked back over to Ahsoka and knelt down in front of her. "Look, it took me almost three years to even start coming to terms with Sarrish, and I still can't believe Umbara even happened. And yes I feel guilty about them all the time, but I don't have the feeling that I should die too anymore. It's because that's not what they would have wanted,"

"Then what do they want?" Ahsoka asked quietly,

"For you too keep living for them, fight what they fought, keep their memory alive, because if you're dead too then how are you supposed to tell their story?"

"I'm sorry I yelled," Ahsoka whispered,

"It's alright, I yell sometimes too when people I love die." Ahsoka whimpered,

"I was jealous of her," she whispered,

"I know," Esinon said, "But for what it's worth, I think you are _way _out of Bonteri league. So was Steela. We're not defined by what boys think of us, and if Lux doesn't see what an incredible person you are, and how much you have to offer than who needs him? You've got me,"

"And you always have me," Ahsoka replied,

"Hug it out?" Esinon asked, opening her arms, Ahsoka chuckled, accepting the embrace. And for once in the loud warring galaxy, both women felt safe.

**The next day…**

Esinon watched Lux's back as they stood in a single file line in front of Steela's body. Saw paid his respects first, then Lux, and then it was Esinon's turn. She leaned in close,

"I told Qui-Gon to be on the lookout for you, he'll help you find your family," she whispered, and for a moment she felt Steela's force signature flicker in the cosmic force. She let a small smile spread across her face as she walked over to where Lux and Saw were standing. She grabbed Saw's hand giving it a reassuring squeeze. He gave her a nod of thanks, she could tell that he was barely keeping it together. Ahsoka was last and lingered for only a moment before going and standing next to Lux. She saw Master Kenobi glance at her,

'_I'm ok,' _she said through their bond, he gave a small nod,

'_If you want to talk later, we can,' _Esinon gave a nod of thanks. Communication between the Master and Padawan duo was better than ever after the Hardeen issue. Well… Esinon wasn't being completely honest about her abilities. Obi-Wan had no idea of what his padawan could do. She felt Saw squeeze her hand and he gave her a look of, 'are you ok?' Esinon nodded, Ahsoka finally looked up at Saw.

"I… I'm sorry for your loss," she said,

"Thanks, but it's over now," Saw replied, "let's just leave it at that," he pulled his hand away from Esinon's and walked off, a bitter expression on his face. After a moment Lux spoke up,

"Steela would be glad," he said, "Her sacrifice brought freedom to Onderon." Ahsoka took a deep breath,

"But at what cost?" she asked, "Like you once said, many lives get caught between the Republic and the Separatists."

"I did say that once," Lux said, "but after watching the heroics and selflessness of the Jedi, I do believe the Republic is the right side to be on."

"What do you mean?" Ahsoka asked,

"Dendup has appointed me the new Senator of Onderon," Lux explained, "I will follow in my mother's footsteps, and I will bring us back to the Republic." And for the first time in a while Ahsoka smiled,

"Remember this day," Dendup announced, "the day Onderon became free again!" The crowd went up in cheers. Onderon was finally free, but it came at a price. The life of Steela Gerrera, and the innocence of Saw. Esinon knew better than anyone, losing people can make you bitter and angry if you weren't careful. She tugged Lux aside for a moment,

"Keep an eye on Saw, ok? You two are all each other have left." she said, Lux nodded,

"Thank you Esinon, for everything," she gave him a small smile before they returned back to Ahsoka.

* * *

**Ngl I'm super proud of this chapter, but oops I've also been getting behind on this story bc of school and my addiction to drawing. But I'm taking tonight to write before I take a boat load of notes for my English and history and... do my algebra, and bio, and study for three quizzes- anywho being a junior is hard **

**I'm sorry that posting has slowed down, but just a reminder I do do this for fun, and I want it to stay that way. **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: ****Ahsoka loves nothing more than long speeder rides. Sometimes when she has nightmares, Anakin will take her out for a drive in the middle of the night**

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	50. Zonoma

**A few months later…**

Xavier sprinted through the battlefield, darting towards Esinon's position. She didn't know about the giant platoon of droids that was heading straight towards her. He pushed himself faster, his hearts hammering in his ears. He dodged a few blasts, vaulting over the rocky terrain, pushing himself faster when he saw Esinon's blue blade flicking between bolts.

"Esinon!" he shouted, igniting his emerald blade. "We've gotta go!"

"What!" he shouted, unable to hear him over the flak explosions and the humming of her lightsaber. Xavier grumbled to himself as he finally skidded to a halt next to her.

"There's an entire platoon of droids headed this way!" both padawans froze as that very platoon appeared on the horizon. Droid's shiny heads glistened in the setting sun. Esinon's eyes went wide, "Let's go!" Esinon followed after him but they were too late, the droids unleashed fire starting to split up and surrounding the overwhelmed Jedi as the padawans stood back to back.

"I'll take the ones on the right if you take the ones on the left?" Esinon asked, Xavier sighed,

"Sure," the droids opened fire and soon both of their lightsabers were blurs. For every droid they took out, two more replaced it. And Esinon and Xavier were becoming quickly overwhelmed. It was building and building and then the force screamed for Xavier to drop and he instantly obeyed.

Lightning exploded from Esinon's body as the panic overtook her. She dropped to her knees as the beam of electricity shot up into the sky and rained down upon the droids, decimating the entire platoon. The light finally dimmed as the electricity spouting from Esinon's body finally ended.

Xavier didn't move, he could only gape at his panting friend. Esinon had used sith powers. She had actually used Sith abilities, that lighting came from her! Xavier finally registered Esinon's distress when she hunched over even further and whimpered. He crawled his way over to her, getting in front of her.

"Esinon," he whispered, "Esinon are you ok?" she shook her head, hugging her arms to her abdomen. Xavier shifted around to her side and wrapped his arms around her shoulders,

"It's ok," he whispered,

"You can't tell anyone," she whimpered, "They'll kick me out," Xavier didn't say anything. He just hugged her tighter.

* * *

"Master Windu," Xavier said tentatively as he palmed open the door to the high council room. The Master glanced up at the padawan,

"Xavier," he greeted as the door closed behind the zabrak, "I sense you're uneasy," Xavier stared at the floor for a moment.

"I need to tell you, something Master… it's about Esinon."

* * *

Esinon's stomach flipped again as she forced herself to keep walking towards the meditation chambers where Master Windu was waiting for her. Had Xavier told him?

No, no. Xavier wouldn't. Xavier respected her enough to know that he couldn't tell anyone, this was her secret to tell. Or not tell. Probably the latter. She couldn't tell anyone.

The Jedi would kick her out in an instant! Esinon hugged her arms around her abdomen tighter as she finally reached the door to the meditation chambers. She took a deep breath, it was probably just a routine check-in and padawan evaluation. Masters did them periodically to make sure padawans were keeping up with their training and lessons, and Masters were fulfilling their duties.

She opened the door to find Master Windu seated on a cushion and he motioned for her to sit down on the one opposite him. The door slid closed as Esinon wrung her fingers together, her heart pounding in her ears.

"Esinon," he greeted, her heart fluttered again. He rarely called Esinon anymore, it was usually reserved for bad news, reprimands, or when he was trying to be especially gentle with her. "There's something we need to talk about." Esinon stayed silent, although she wanted to deny it, she knew what was coming. "I have been made aware that you have...been exhibiting Sith abilities. Specifically Sith lightning, as recent as three days ago."

"I- I can explain," Esinon stammered,

"Breathe Esinon," Master Windu said gently, "I am the only one who knows, but the council will need to be informed,"

"Please don't exile me," she whispered, Master Windu placed a hand on her knee.

"I doubt we will," he said firmly, "But I need you to tell me everything, how long have you had the abilities, what triggers them?"

"I've had them since I was… fifteen. And most times they don't come from a place of anger. I think they're like… like a defense mechanism." she explained, "It happens when I'm scared, panicked, or overwhelmed. Sometimes they have come from a place of anger… but mostly it's a strong emotion."

"How many other people have seen this happen?" he asked,

"Xavier and maybe Rex, I'm not sure though," she said, deciding to leave Amos out of it since it wouldn't affect him anymore. Master Windu sat back contemplating.

"I will speak to the council and decide on what we should do about this," he stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just stay in your apartment and don't speak to anyone about this for the moment."

"Ok," she said quietly, Master Windu gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before leaving the room. Esinon sat on the cushion for a few more moments thinking. She'd worked so hard to keep this a secret for three years and it all came crumbling down in an instant. What would Obi-Wan say? Would he not want her as his padawan? Forget that, she was probably gonna get kicked out of the order.

Where would she go?

What would she do?

Well, maybe she could go to Mandalore, but she'd have to hide. An ex-Jedi padawan who was dating the prince- well she and Korkie could probably keep that a secret- either way, and ex-Jedi slash military officer wouldn't look good. She could go to Onderon, she could help Saw and she could always call Lux. Yes, they'd had their differences but things weren't as icy as they once had been.

It was always an option to go to Scipio, and staying on Coruscant was definitely not an option. Would she really want to go live with her family after being exiled? She wasn't sure, she could probably call Amos and ask if she could live with him for a while. At least until she could get a job and get a place to live. She could be a mechanic… well there weren't many jobs for seventeen-year-olds.

Which begged the question of why she was even a military officer. Jedi were forced to grow up so fast, too fast.

She couldn't remember life without war. Esinon finally forced herself to stand up and then walk back to her apartment. She didn't say hi to Anakin or Ahsoka she just went to her room, closed and locked the door behind her.

She laid down on her bed and stared at the wall, hoping somehow she would wake up and this would all be a nightmare.

* * *

Obi-Wan didn't know why Master Windu had called an emergency council meeting but he took his seat and watched as the council members filed in and appeared via hologram. Soon everyone had arrived and Master Windu began the meeting,

"I know you are probably wondering why I called this emergency meeting, and it is concerning a padawan in the order," he said, a quiet murmur rippled through the room as Masters who had padawans stiffened wondering if it could be theirs. Obi-Wan didn't, nothing was wrong with Esinon. She would have told him if something was wrong, they had been more honest with one another than ever. Master Windu took a deep breath, "Padawan Windcaster is exhibiting the ability to use Sith associated force powers. Such as force lightning." Obi-Wan froze, no. No. That couldn't be right. Esinon was far too sweet and loving to ever have that kind of rage inside her.

"What are we to do?" Master Ti asked, Master Windu sighed,

"She explained to me that it comes from a place of strong emotion, not necessarily only from anger."

"Still, that is not very Jedi-like," Master Mundi interrupted, "it says so in the first line of the code. There is no emotion there is peace,"

"It was not meant to be interpreted in such a literal way," Master Allie interjected, "As lifeforms, we will still feel things, Esinon is young and is not a model Jedi yet. We cannot hold her emotions against her,"

"So you won't hold her Sith abilities against her?" Master Mundi argued,

"I'm not saying they should be ignored!" she snapped, "Obviously she needs additional training,"

"From who?" Master Unduli inquired, "Normally Jedi who exhibits such abominations of abilities are exiled,"

"We aren't exiling Esinon," Master Windu said suddenly, "She has proven herself as an excellent student and leader, she understands this as little as we do."

"That makes her a danger to herself and others, it is not safe for any of us if she stays here." Master Koth said,

"And it's safer for her to go out into the galaxy alone?" Master Ti asked, "Where Dooku or any other Darkside user could easily turn her? She's vulnerable and needs training."

"Again, from who? None of us know how these powers work." Master Unduli replied,

"I will," Master Windu said, "I know enough about these powers to be able to help her get them under control, even utilize them. She took out an entire platoon of droids."

"Are you suggesting we use her as a weapon?" Master Allie asked with disgust,"

"No," Mace replied, "I'm suggesting that she'll be a formidable warrior if we teach her to control her abilities. Also, she will be much safer under a Jedi's watchful eye. To kick her out would be irresponsible."

"So what do you propose?" Master Allie asked,

"Esinon will be given special training under my supervision, and come on missions with the 91st for the time being. If she stays close to me, I'll be able to help her keep her powers under control and learn to control them on her own." Mace turned to Obi-Wan, "Is this alright with you Master Kenobi?" Obi-Wan didn't speak, all he could do was nod. He was still in shock that this was even happening. This wasn't happening! "This meeting is over," the council members rose and filed out of the room all except for Obi-Wan who stayed frozen in his seat. Master Windu glanced at him, "This wasn't because of something you did Obi-Wan,"

"Why didn't she tell me?" he wondered aloud,

"Because she was scared," Mace confessed, "She was terrified when I confronted her."

"She thought we were gonna kick her out if we found out," he murmured, Mace nodded,

"We'll help her figure this out, and don't worry. She'll continue to live with you and train some with you. This isn't a permanent thing." Obi-Wan nodded and Mace ducked out. Obi-Wan took a deep breath, running a hand down his face, things were going to be forever different now.

**Two weeks later…**

Korkie was ecstatic to be back on Coruscant, he hadn't seen Esinon in person since he left the ICU. He strolled through the Senate Halls, hoping that Esinon had decided to meet him a little early. He finally spotted her walking down the halls. He sped up slightly to meet her halfway,

"Master Jedi," he greeted, with a big grin on his face. She glanced up at him for a moment before refocusing on her feet.

"Highness," she replied, Korkie's face fell,

"What's wrong?" he asked quietly,

"I- we need to talk," she replied, she led him down the hallway away to a secluded corner where rarely anyone walked. She pushed open the door to a supply closet and Korkie followed her inside.

"Esinon, are you ok?" he asked seriously, Esinon thumbed inside of her sleeve.

"The Jedi…"

"Found out?" He suddenly blurted, Esinon shook her head,

"Not about us, but I've been hiding some of my… abilities. And the Jedi found out,"

"And that's a bad thing…"

"They're dark side abilities Korkie, and I was about to get kicked out of the order," she snapped, she let out a harsh breath, dragging her hands down her face. "I'm sorry, I'm just… under a lot of stress right now,"

"Ok, but you aren't kicked out so I don't see what there is to be worried about," he replied, Esinon bit the inside of her cheek and swallowed hard.

"With the Jedi council breathing down my neck, it's not safe… for us to be together anymore," she mumbled, Korkie froze,

"I- I don't,"

"I don't want to either," she said, her eyes welling with tears. "But if the council finds out, the entire galaxy will too! And people who want me dead will kill you just to get to me! And it'll ruin your reputation, even cost you the throne. I'm not willing to risk any of that, not right now."

"But I am," he said in exasperation, grabbing her hand, Esinon quickly pulled her hand away,

"I'm sorry, but it's safer this way. I will always love you," and with that, she opened the supply door and exited the room in a hurry as tears started to fight their way past her defenses.

"I will wait for you," Korkie whispered, watching Esinon walk away.

**One month later….**

"Try again!" Mace shouted from behind a protective sheet of glass as Esinon stood in a training room, practicing her control over new-found Sith abilities. She stuck out her hand and summoned the electricity to her fingertips, she snapped her wrist creating a cord of lightning in her hand. She clasped it and snapped her wrist again, cracking the whip and latching it around the training dummy. She whipped around, smashing the dummy into the wall. She released her clasp on the electricity and looked up at Master Windu. He gave her a nod, opening the door and entering the training room.

"You're getting better," he praised, Esinon sighed, running her fingers through her sweaty hair. They'd been at this for hours,

"Yeah, I just… I'm not really a Jedi, but I'm not a Sith, I really want to know who- or what I am."

"The force will show you in time," Master Windu assured her, the ship suddenly jolted and both Jedi were thrown to their feet as the ship was abruptly jerked out of hyperspace.

"What was that?" Esinon exclaimed, Mace helped her to her feet,

"I don't know, let's get to the bridge." Esinon grabbed his shoulder and used her speed to rush them both to the bridge. "Admiral, what's going on?"

"We're not sure General," Killian reported as Esinon walked over the catwalk towards the viewing port. There was a big green and blue swirling planet below, and for the first time in a long time, she wasn't confused at all.

"It's the planet," she said suddenly, never shifting her gaze from the planet. "I need to get down there now,"

"What do you mean?" Master Windu asked,

"The planet, the force, it's calling me. There's something down there for me, can I go Master? Please?" Master Windu paused for a moment, glancing from the planet to the padawan.

"Alright, just take Neyo with you." he conceded, the clone Commander glanced between his General and his co-Commander.

"I'll meet you in the hanger Commander,"

"Thank you!" she gave a quick bow to Master Windu before going to change quickly. She changed into one of the only pairs of civvies she owned, thankfully, they would be good to trek in incase it was a bit of a walk. She pulled her army green jacket on, tucking her dagger in the holster on her thigh, and clipped her lightsaber to her belt before zipping to the hanger where Neyo had already prepped. She entered and sat down in the co-pilot's seat.

"So why exactly do we need to go down here, Commander?" Neyo asked,

"I'm not exactly sure yet, but the pull of the force is strong. I know there's something down there I need to see," she replied, Neyo shrugged and pulled them out of the hanger and they began their descent from the hanger.

* * *

Esinon walked down the catwalk, the long grass swayed around her feet as she looked out on the glorious field. There were wildflowers everywhere and a cool breeze blowing. She could see mountains in the distance and a forest lining the edge of the field. Instantly Esinon could feel the force pulsing through the planet, it felt so alive. Neyo walked down the catwalk,

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Esinon sat down in the grass, opening her hands in her lap.

"I'll try and figure that out," she replied, closing her eyes,

"Jedi," Neyo mumbled, before reentering the ship. Esinon stretched out into the force, sifting through the life on the planet. There was so much, the planet itself felt alive.

'_Why have you come here child?' _a feminine voice whispered,

'_I want to know who I am,' _she replied, for whatever reason, she could just feel that this place was tied to her identity.

'_Then venture forward,' _Without thinking, Esinon obeyed,

"Neyo! I'm going for a look around!" she called into the ship,

"Hang on Commander!" he said, "I need to go with you,"

"I need you to stay here," she said, as Neyo appeared in the hallway,

"No way, this is a new planet, and you have no idea what's out there, you need someone to protect you,"

"I think I can protect myself, thank you very much," Esinon replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Either way, it's better to have someone looking out for you,"

"Neyo, I need you to trust me, the force is calling me, and it wouldn't call me somewhere dangerous," Neyo sighed,

"Fine, but keep your comlink on at all time,"

"Of course," she replied, "I'll be careful, I promise,"

"Because if you die, the first person General Windu will kill is me," he grumbled, Esinon smirked,

"I'll be back before dark," she said, starting towards the woods,

"Check in every few hours!" he shouted,

"I will!" And with that, Esinon was off to find the holy grail of her identity.

* * *

She'd been trekking for hours now with no results, but nevertheless she persisted. Esinon pushed her way through some dense foliage as she continued her walk. The brush was getting thicker and thicker as she walked, she sighed and looked around, just off to her right there was an opening to a path that she had never noticed before. Well, the force always had worked in mysterious ways. She started down the path, the force pulsing stronger and stronger as she walked, she hadn't felt the force this strong since Mortis. The last of trees parted and she came upon an enormous temple. It was covered in ivy and moss, the stones crumbling and cracked with age, but most of it was still intact.

Tattered tapestries flapped in the wind with a strange looking Jedi symbol. Had she just discovered an ancient Jedi temple? Esinon cautiously walked towards the structure, judging the stability as she walked up the cracked and crumbled stairs. She hefted herself over a fallen column and finally made it to the entrance. She walked inside, running her fingers over the old stonework.

It was similarly modeled to the Jedi temple, with long corridors, and there were large faded murals that covered the walls. After a bit of exploring she finally stumbled upon a library. The old flimsi books untouched in centuries, this place was thousands of years old if she had to guess. She started to peruse the shelves, stepping gingerly around the fallen books.

She accidentally nudged one with her foot and she glanced downward, she knelt down gently brushing off years of dust and grime to reveal a faded title. She opened the book and it was written in a form of aurebesh she'd never seen before but somehow she could read. She skimmed the pages, words like Leviathan, teidowan, and Sekot stuck out to her.

She pulled out her data scanner and closed the book. She began the scan and it soon finished, she started to shift down and picked out the most promising-looking books and digitized them to read later. She had been working for a few hours she'd guessed when she heard footsteps. Esinon froze, Neyo hadn't said that he was coming to find her last time he checked in. Esinon pulled her saber off her belt and stayed as still as possible as she watched the entrance to the library.

"Adora! Is that you dearie?" An elderly woman's voice called, Esinon silently shifted her weight to get a new view. A hunched over old lady entered the room, holding a broom in her grasp. She had an old blue shawl draped over her shoulders and an old gray dress. She looked like she had been here since this temple had been built. Esinon shifted her eyes around looking for an exit, "Adora, there you are!" the woman exclaimed, Esinon yelped as she scrambled away from the woman who had appeared next to her in seconds. "Adora, you're late," Esinon stared at her, "Come on, it's a long walk to the mountains," the woman shoved a wicker basket into her arms and started to walk off, and with a nudge from the force Esinon followed after.

"Who are you? What is this place?" Esinon asked, placing her lightsaber back on her belt.

"You don't remember Zonoma?" she asked, pausing to stare at Esinon, "You're not my Adora, but you carry her heart. You have her eyes," Zonoma continued forward and Esinon followed.

"Where are we going?" she asked,

"To go pick berries!" Zonoma exclaimed, "Don't you remember Adora?"

"I really think you have me mistaken for someone else," Esinon replied, "My name is Esinon, Esinon Windcaster. I'm a Jedi."

"You always say the silliest things Adora," Zonoma chuckled, "Always talking about the Jedi, this is your home now dearie,"

"But where is here?" Esinon asked, following after Zonoma out the front of the temple and off to the left back into the woods.

"You do not remember the temple? Did you hit your head again Adora?"

"No- I uh- how long have you been living out here...by yourself?" she asked, Zonoma paused and giggled,

"I am not alone!" she exclaimed, tapping Esinon's head with her broom, "I have broom! And Leor. But he's always hiding from me," she said, walking further into the woods, nimbly jumping over large gangled roots and fallen trees.

"Oh great," Esinon murmured, "you have imaginary friends," she hurried after Zonoma. "Can you tell me what this planet is! Why is the temple here?"

"Oh Adora, you ask more questions than a teidowan," she chuckled,

"For the last time, my name isn't Adora," Esinon said in exasperation. "My name is Esinon, and please, I'm just trying to figure out who I- whoa," the brush cleared and a large obelisk reached towards the sky covered in gnarled branches and strange markings. Lines and circles covered the obelisk, and before Esinon could register what was going on Zonoma was already climbing up towards some bushes at the top of the obelisk.

"Come on Adora! The best berries are up here!" she called, Esinon was now sure that Zonoma was strong with the force if she was climbing up this obelisk at that speed.

"Wait! That doesn't look safe!" Esinon shouted, and started to climb up the branches. Before she could reach Zonoma in time, the elder woman's hand hit the platform before the final peak of an obelisk. The structure shot a beam of light into the sky and Zonoma lost her grip. Esinon used the force to leap up and catch the elder woman, landing them both safely on the ground. The obelisk cast glitching forms of people down upon the landscape. Esinon could see tabards flapping on the ghostly forms, had she found a Jedi temple? The images glitched out and vanished. "This… feels familiar," Esinon murmured,

"We come here all the time dearie," Zonoma said, starting to gather the berries from the ground. "We come here to look at the stars,"

"_I've _never been here. Remember? My name is Esinon,"

"You always talk about this Esinon, dear, I don't know who she is," Zonoma said, "Now come on, your basket is still empty." Esinon hefted herself to her feet and grabbed her basket, following after Zonoma.

"Zonoma, can you tell what this planet is?" she asked gently, trying to be as patient with the elderly woman as possible.

"I can't remember that, Leor tells me all the time. This planet is strange, and I told him that we should have picked somewhere else but he and Dade were adamant about this one," she said with exasperation, Esinon sighed, this wasn't going well.

"Please try and think, I really need to find out who I am. I don't know whether I'm a Jedi or a Sith, and I need to know because I have all these powers and I thought I had myself figured out but I don't know who I am anymore! And I'm just trying to do my best but my best is never good enough for the Jedi and no matter how hard I try I can never follow the code! And I don't even understand half of what the Jedi want me to be because I'm supposed to be a peacekeeper but I fight in a war every day! So please, just try and remember anything about this planet, the temple that I found you in, that obelisk, anything, anything that can tell me who I am!"

"And you think I'm crazy!" Zonoma exclaimed, whacking Esinon with her broom. "You ran into the woods and asked the first old lady who you could find who you are." Esinon sighed,

"I'm sorry Zona, I just… I'm under a lot of pressure from the Jedi council right now,"

"Come on, I think I know somewhere that can help," Zonoma said, grabbing Esinon's hand and leading her forward. After a few minutes, they reached the mouth of a cave with a matching tapestry to the temples. Faded maroon with a strange looking Jedi symbol. Only two "Leor takes all the teidowans here, they come out… different, I guess. Maybe the answers you search for are in here."

"Will you…"

"Wait for you?" Zona asked, "Of course Adora, I will always wait for you. I have waited for you to come back here for so long," Esinon smiled softly,

"I really wish I knew who this Adora was, maybe I can find out and bring her back to you," Esinon said, Zona nodded and took a step back,

"Now go find yourself Adora dearie," she said happily, staking her broom handle in the ground. Esinon smiled before turning back to the cave and walking inside. The inside was covered in fluorescent plants that cast a soft glow of pink, blues, and yellows across the cave walls. Esinon followed the winding tunnels until she reached a fork in the pathway. She glanced between the two tunnels debating about which one to take,

'_Trust in the force little runner,' _Qui-Gon encouraged through their bond,

"Yes Master," She murmured, and stretched out with the force, reaching her hand out in front of her. Her arm swayed back and forth until she fell upon the tunnel on the right. She followed the force and was met with a bright light halfway through the tunnel. The tunnel transformed into the Jedi council room. Esinon was standing in a shaded corner of the room and none of the members seemed to take notice that she was there.

"I don't think she's ready," Master Windu said,

"She will surely fall, I should have seen this coming. She was never obedient to the code." her Master said,

"A danger to the order she is, exiled she must be." Master Yoda replied, the council room seemed to hush although Esinon could see their mouths moving.

"They never trusted you," a familiar, smooth voice said from within the council room. Dooku emerged from the shadows. "Well, they don't see your true potential as I do," Esinon's face formed into a snarl,

"You don't know anything about me," she snapped,

"Oh but I do," he replied, the council room vanished and was replaced with the large redwood trees of Endor. Esinon was now standing on a platform that would lead up to the tribal pods, the roar of the ship forced Esinon to move. The ship landed and out walked a woman in a bright red cloak, holding a wicker basket. "Your own parents didn't love you enough to keep you," the woman set the basket down and hurriedly got back onto the ship, Esinon knelt down next to the basket to find a tiny baby swaddled in a red blanket staring up at her with big brown eyes.

"That's not true," she whispered, as the baby of herself blinked up at her.

"You know it is," Dooku said, resting his arms behind his back. The scenery changed again to the tribal pods, the sky had blackened into a starry night. She glanced down at her feet and a shaggy-haired two-year-old Esinon curled up on the wood. "Your new family threw you away like garbage because you were different… powerful." The forests of Endor disappeared, "People have always been walking out on you," he said, Clovis walked past and Esinon chased after him but a Separatist tank slammed down in between them causing Esinon to fall to the ground. She scrambled away more tanks began falling all around her until she was surrounded from all sides. She was met with her own reflection in the shiny metal, except her eyes were glowing bright yellow.

"No!" She shouted, gripping handfuls of hair hoping that the tugs of pain would snap her out of this hellish nightmare. Everything went still and quiet and Esinon tentatively opened her eyes to find herself alone in an underground tunnel, a sewer system maybe. She shakily stood to her feet, and looked around trying to gain her bearings.

She heard someone shouting, and decided that was her best bet and took off running, more screams echoed and Esinon sprinted faster hearing the hum of a lightsaber. She ignited her own blue blade and skidded around a corner to find dozens of clone bodies scattered along with the wreckage. All of them were marred with the char of a lightsaber, she followed the humming sound upward and found a woman dressed in black robes holding a double-bladed red lightsaber. She deflected four bolts from an ARC trooper in blue and yellow in rapid succession, then using the force, she grabbed the ARC by the throat holding him up in the air.

"Is it you I'm looking for?" the women cooed as the ARC struggled and sputtered, clawing at the invisible hands closing around his windpipe. "You are older, maybe you'll know more about Ahsoka's true intentions here," she called the ARC into her grasp and knocked him swiftly in the head, and he went limp in her grip. She grabbed him by the collar, "Clones," she mumbled, the women turned around and Esinon froze. The woman had bright yellow eyes, and Scipian markings, with a faded scar running over the right one. It was her.

That Sith was her.

* * *

**I'M LATE I'M LATE, I KNOW I'M LATE!  
**

**Sorry I didn't post this yesterday! the school week and tennis was a little hectic and posting completely slipped my mind, but here we are! Not super duper late at least. **

**Any theories on what the heckity heck is happening to Esinon? **

**A cookie to whoever recognizes what mission the Sith scene goes with bc it is a canon mission **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: not remotely relevant but ****Crosshair has a special compartment in his belt for toothpicks also I feel like he's just the kind of person to rock a red fan and snap it anyone's face who's annoying him. Also he could fight with the fan because it would be made out of carbon fiber so he would go all mulan on anyone he needed to.**

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	51. Guardian

It felt like she couldn't breathe. Was she going to become that? Could she become that? But… she'd had these abilities for so long and never felt an overwhelming tug to the dark side. She watched herself walk away for a moment when Dooku appeared again,

"You are going to become that no matter what, no matter how hard you fight, no matter how much you resist, that is inevitable," he said, Esinon swallowed hard,

"I'm not weak, not weak like you," she snarled, glaring at Dooku.

"Weak you say?" he asked with a smirk, "the Jedi also thought I was weak for falling, but they have not seen what I have. The Jedi order has become corrupt and vulnerable, and I think you know that too." Esinon stared at her feet for a moment,

"I know that the Jedi are losing themselves in this war… but I don't know that exactly am a Jedi," she replied,

"Then what are you," Dooku said slowly, enunciating each word.

"I don't know," she said firmly, "But I certainly don't need your help to figure it out," she snapped, storming off in the opposite direction that her sith self had. The scenery began to change into a giant garden, filled with flowering trees, topiaries, and a fountain in the middle of the cobblestone pathways.

"I'm gonna get you!" A female voice cried and a little girl's shrieks pierced through the garden. A young girl with frizzy auburn hair and one blue and one brown eye sprinted past her and an older woman in Kryze colored robes darted after the girl and scooped her up in her arms. And once again, Esinon had come face to face with a version of herself. A few seconds later an auburn-haired man walked around the corner,

"You've always wondered what life could be like if you left the order," a new voice murmured, "Leave with Korkie, get married, raise a child, live the life you want.'

"And what if I am living the living the life I want?" Esinon snapped, the voice, it chuckled,

"You really believe that?" the garden vanished and she was standing in a dark, empty, void. Images on the wall flickered, she could see herself at twelve during the battle of Christophsis. The image of her jumped out of the way of a blast, terror written all over her face as a clone dropped dead next.

The image changed and she could see herself at the battle of Geonosis, face buried in Obi-Wan's robes as Drummer gave her stitches while the battle raged around them. "This is the life you want?" the image flickered and it changed to Umbara where lightning roared into the sky as Esinon cried out in the agony of loss.

The images started to blur together as they moved faster and faster as every moment of loss, pain, and suffering was played back for Esinon again and again and again. "You are broken. The Jedi created this war, they created you. They want to use you as a weapon, to kill, to murder, to destroy, to wreak havoc across the galaxy so that all might bow to the Jedi's will."

"Dangerous,"

"Dangerous,"

"Dangerous,"

"Dangerous," Demented voices chanted, again and again, Esinon scrunched her eyes shut and forced herself to walk towards the blur of memories. She reached out her hand and placed it on the wall and chanting stopped, and the world went quiet.

Esinon opened her eyes to find an image of herself sprinting through the temple gardens, giggling maniacally as Nadar chased her. He quickly caught up to her and tossed her up in the air causing even more infectious giggles.

The image changed again and it was her, Ahsoka, and Xavier all cuddled up on the couch watching a holo movie. It then morphed into an image of her sparing with Echo and Fives which quickly turned into a giant tickle fight. The images began to whir as thousands of wonderful memories flashed before her. A few happy tears slipped from her eyes,

"This is the life I want," she whispered, "I want to protect you," the images slowed and finally dimmed out and Esinon was once again left in the void alone until a glowing figure walked past her. The void started to dissipate and she was once again left in the cave. The figure was a man, in flowing gray cloaks and robes, behind him were two other men in similar robes. Then there came a woman in beautiful blue robes with brown hair.

"Are we sure this is the one?" the woman asked, one of the men glanced back at her.

"Come on Zona, the planet literally told it agreed with our views," he said, Esinon started to follow the quartet as they walked.

"And since when do we listen to planets Leor?"

"It's not the planet Zonoma," the man in the front of the pack said, "It's the force that resides inside the planet,"

"I thought we decided the planet was sentient," the other man said,

"It is Danal, but it is the force that is making the planet sentient," the man in the front replied,

"Exactly why we should have picked a less confusing planet," Zona grumbled, Esinon followed the ancient glowing figures further and further into the cave until they finally reached a small pocket at the end of the cave where the glowing figures stopped.

"So we're all in agreement?" Dade asked, both Leor and Danal nodded after a moment so did Zonoma. "Let it now be known that this is the home of the Gray Jedi. Guardians of the force." Esinon's heart almost stopped, that's who she was. A gray Jedi. She couldn't believe it, she'd actually found out who she was! She was a gray Jedi. Guardian of the force.

The ghostly figures faded away and Esinon was left in the room alone, the cave ceiling morphed into a giant astrology chart. Expanses of stars and milky ways swirled above her head. She marveled at the charts, wandering to the middle of the room. She instantly stumbled backward when a beam of light shot upwards. It dimmed to reveal a wooden and gold plated lightsaber floating in the middle of the beam.

She tentatively reached towards it and grabbed it from the beam, the beam promptly disappeared. She examined the hilt for a moment, the gold plating swirling towards the top. It really was a beautiful design. She ignited the saber and a yellow blade whooshed out, golden like the ones of temple guards.

"I'm a guardian," she whispered in disbelief, "I'M A GUARDIAN!" She screamed happily,

* * *

Neyo scanned the swells of grass and the trees on the outer edge of the field. It had been hours since Windcaster disappeared by herself. She'd checked in about an hour ago, but Neyo was paranoid and General Windu loved that kid more than anything. He heard something rustle in the bushes and raised his blaster on instinct but immediately lowered it when he saw Commander Windcaster sprinting towards him.

"Neyo!" She yelled, at first the clone became worried that she was injured or encountered something dangerous in the woods but that was quickly dismissed when she yelled happily, "I'M A GUARDIAN! I KNOW WHO I AM! I'M A GUARDIAN!" Neyo wasn't sure what she was talking about but he thought the padawan was going to implode from sheer excitement. She couldn't stop moving, holding a new lightsaber and jumping into the air higher than the ships. Neyo just chuckled to himself at the scene and let her be excited, be happy, be her. Because she hadn't been this way since she first became his co-Commander.

**A few days later…**

Esinon drew her newly fashioned double-bladed lightsaber. She spun the weapon a couple of times experimentally, watching the green blades whir. She then broke the saber down into two seperate blades, the yellow and blue blades becoming a blur. She promptly growled as she fumbled slightly with the saber in her left hand.

"You're gonna need to learn how to be ambidextrous if you're going to wield a double-bladed saber," a deep voice said from behind her, Esinon whipped around to find Master Tapal standing behind her.

"Master Tapal," she stammered, "I was just- I-" the lasat Master smiled,

"Would you like some help Padawan?" he asked, she nodded sheepishly, "I'm guessing you were hoping it would be like fighting with one blade," Esinon nodded again and Master Tapal chuckled. "Unfortunately it isn't that simple, here, I'll show you." he ignited his blue, double-bladed saber. He took a stance, with his left arm tucked against his waist, his other arm outstretched holding the saber horizontally in front of him. Esinon copied his stance, feeling like a youngling who was learning their saber basics.

Master Tapal began teaching her basics of using her double-bladed saber, and soon she was moving quickly through the steps. They worked for hours on hours until Esinon was dripping in sweat, and her chest was heaving for more air. Yet she continued. She had to get this perfect, to be able to fight on the battlefield in her and modified saber style. "I think that's enough for today," Master Tapal said, hooking his saber onto his belt. "But you've improved dramatically, keep working at it. And come and find me if you'd like any more help," she bowed to the lasat Master,

"Thank you, Master," he smiled at her before ducking out of the training room. Esinon reignited her saber and kept practicing, after all, she did have the stamina of an ARC trooper.

**A few months later…**

Esinon smiled at the eleven-year-olds decked in snow gear that sprinted past her and Xavier.

"Do you still remember our gathering?" he murmured as the chattering of the younglings filled the room. Esinon nodded,

"I remember Tay finding hers first," she replied,

"And then you were wandering around the cave forever," he joked, Esinon rolled her eyes.

"It wasn't my fault that my kyber crystal was hidden in the very back," she grumbled, "And yet, I found mine faster than you," Xavier huffed,

"I was a bit slow, so what? At least I didn't get 'trapped' in the cave like Gill did." he replied, Esinon chuckled,

"You think Master Yoda is gonna tell them that the cave doesn't actually seal off?" Xavier shook his head,

"Nah, surprised that that doesn't spread."

"I don't think most younglings cut it that close for fear of getting trapped," she replied, watching as Ahsoka attempted to herd the younglings.

"Knighting has to be close for Ahsoka," Xavier murmured after a moment. Esinon nodded in agreement.

"The council probably wants to knight her, it's just hard to get her here for her trial since the 501st is deployed every other week," she said, Xavier hummed,

"Well, the council does what they want,"

"Thank goodness I'm a gray Jedi now," Esinon grumbled, she liked being a gray even if the council was keeping her on a tight leash at the moment. She could disagree with them now, she even had started reading over the files she had digitized from the library on that planet. Gray Jedi have attachments because they believe people could use Darkside powers if they were for good intent and never fall.

"Hardeen?" he asked, she nodded,

"Don't really trust them after that,"

"Don't blame you," they sat in silence for a few more minutes, "Don't you have a briefing?" Esinon paused for a moment,

"It's Spinner's briefing technically, I'm just going with him to say… see you later." Esinon didn't like goodbyes. Citizens said goodbye as an 'I'll see you later' but Esinon said goodbye as if it might be the last time she would see someone, she didn't like goodbyes. Xavier grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze,

"Spinner will be fine, he's as tough as you. He'll be perfectly fine," he said, Esinon smiled softly,

"Thanks, Xavier," she said, Xavier nodded, "And speaking of that briefing I should probably get going," and with that Esinon disappeared to find her beloved droid.

* * *

Esinon followed after Spinner into the briefing room where R2 and a team of two other droids. Master Secura, Anakin, and Master Sinube were all standing in the near vicinity of their respective droids.

"Time is not on our side, so I will make this short," Master Windu began, "Your droids have been chosen for a very important mission," he pressed a button on a holo table and an image of Separatist dreadnought appeared. "There's an encryption module on this Separatist dreadnought." the chip appeared so all of the droids could get a good look at it. "This device is scrambling all Separatist communication in the region," a map of the route appeared, showing what the plan would look like if executed successfully, "We believe you five can get behind enemy lines, infiltrate the vault, without drawing attention to yourselves and steal that encryption module." Esinon glanced down at the line of droids, there were only four... The door slid open to reveal a clone trooper and a DUM series pilot droid. The droid looked around wildly before skidding down the ramp and to a halt in front a very grumpy looking Master Windu. The droid gave a sloppy salute,

"WAC-47, reporting for duty!" he exclaimed, "Sorry I am late. I thought the message to meet in the 'Jedi storeroom' whatever that is." WAC peered around Master Windu's legs, "So, what did I miss?"

"Fall in line soldier," Master Windu said flatly, Obi-Wan smiled as the little droid scurried his way in between R2 and Spinner.

"So I hear we're going to be taking out the Separatists!" WAC exclaimed excitedly, making punches into the air and kicking an imaginary Separatist. Esinon dropped her head trying to stifle a laugh as Master Windu shot her a look. Master Windu walked over to the droids,

"I will be honest," he said, staring down at WAC, "Some of you will not make it back."

"What?" WAC said, looking around at the other droids, "Why is he looking at me?" WAC turned his gaze back up to Master Windu, "Were you just looking at me? I-I was just kidding,"

"But I have faith in your abilities," Master Windu said, moving on down the line. "You are not ordinary droids, you've worked with the Jedi before. You are our secret weapons. Now, let me turn you over to your mission leader." The holo transmitter shut off, "The colonel is one of our top minds at strategic command. He's been with the Republic since the battle of Geonosis. Colonel Meebur Gascon." The door whooshed open, and the droids were expecting a towering figure but only a small Zilkin walked in, Spinner glanced up at Esinon, but she didn't give him any clarification about what was going on. With a mighty leap, Gascon made his way on top of the holo transmitter.

"Thank you, Master Windu," he said in his gravelly voice, "I'll take it from here," Master Windu gave him a nod,

"May the force be with you," he replied, the Jedi began to exit the room and Esinon knelt down next to Spinner,

"Stay safe little guy," she said, tapping her forehead against his dome,

_'Don't worry, I'll be back in no time,"_ Spinner assured her, she smiled and gave his head one last pat before leaving the room.

"Artoo will look out for Spinner," Anakin replied, Esinon scoffed,

"That droid is more reckless and bullheaded than you, if anything, Spinner is gonna save Artoo's butt." Anakin chuckled,

"You ready for that strategic convention in a few days?" Esinon sighed,

"Well, I'm not really one for sitting around at a strategic convention, they're painfully long, and everyone just argues all the time." she said, "I'd rather go hit something,"

"You and me both Speedy, you and me both,"

**A few days later…**

So far this mission had been a near-epic disaster, at least that's what Spinner thought. That WAC model was annoying, the colonel was very prejudiced against droids, he didn't call Spinner by his name and only referred to BZ as his command center even though it was the Colonel's fault that BZ was half dismantled at the moment! And he was altogether what Spinner thought of as incompetent. He seemed to not even have a super compound grip on the plan. Spinner was annoyed and frustrated, to say the least. They had gotten the chip at least, they were currently on a Separatist ship headed towards the Republic Strategy Convention to deliver the chip to the Jedi. Spinner, Artoo, and QT were all gathered around BZ hoping to get their beloved friend up and running again. Gascon kicked the hatch open from BZ's head.

"How long until my command center is operational again?" the rude Zilkin asked, Spinner, shot him a glare,

_'His name is BZ,'_ the droid snapped in binary, Gascon rolled his eyes,

"Fine," he jumped up onto BZ's body, "How long until BZ is operational?"

_'It depends on the internal damage we find,_' Artoo replied,

"Alright, well make it fast," Gascon said, pulling the encryption module off of his back. "We must get this encryption module back to the Republic as soon as possible."

_'We know,'_ Spinner said,_ 'We have people we care about whose lives are on the line for this chip.'_ Artoo beeped in agreement along with a whir from QT. They all belonged to Jedi, Jedi who cared about them, and they cared about their Jedi. They droids continued to work in silence for a few more minutes until the door whooshed open and simultaneously BZ whirred to life. WAC came sprinting through the door,

_'What happened?"_ BZ asked looking around,

_'It's a long story,'_ QT replied,

"Oh!" WAC exclaimed, "BZ, you're better!"

_'Good as I can be,"_ BZ replied,

"WAC," Gascon grumbled, "what are you doing back here? Who is flying this shuttle?"

"I have good and bad news, Colonel," WAC said, oh and Spinner forgot. WAC was incompetent too. "The bad news is, scans are picking up giant ice formations, commonly called comets heading straight for us."

"What?!" Gascon exclaimed, Spinner let out a low annoyed whistle. "What in the name of the force is the good news!"

"At least you have a good excuse if your mission is a failure," WAC said, Spinner sighed, he didn't want any more missions with WAC or Gascon. Gascon gave a few disgruntled and gasping noises before sprinting towards the cockpit,

"Get out my way!" he shouted, the alarm in the cockpit was beeping loudly, the Zilkin looked frantically at the monitor before jumping up onto the dashboard looking out at the increasingly red expanse of hyperspace. Gascan scrambled away from the viewport window. "Quick! Drop us out of hyperspace!"

_'Don't!'_ Spinner shouted, but it was too late, WAC had already dropped them out of hyperspace into a comet field. Gascon shrieked as WAC attempted to pilot them through the field, the ship spun and jolted. Spinner magnetized himself to the floor so he wouldn't be thrown to the ground. Comet after comet pounded onto the hull of the ship, the viewport window cracked as WAC continued to sloppily pilot them through the field. The ship jolted and bucked wildly as another comet slammed into them, the engine whined and moaned before sputtering to a stop. They were drifting in space.

"The shuttle's power system has been knocked out!" WAC exclaimed,

_'Real bright one,'_ Artoo grumbled, Spinner whistled in agreement. The blue and yellow astromech looked around at his fellow astromechs.

_'D-Squad, with me, let's go fix the problem.'_ he declared, the other droids beeped in agreement. They all exited the ship and got to work on the inner workings of the vehicle, a few minutes later they had auxiliary power restored but they still had to worry about getting the engines back up and running.

Spinner dodged a comet flying for him before getting back to work, he edged two wires together and the engines roared to life. The ship jolted forward at incredible speed, but the excitement was short-lived as another comet rammed into the ship and broke through the wing sending sparks and smoke streaking through the sky. Spinner was able to hear Gascon screaming from the cockpit.

It was going to be a long mission if they all survived the crash. Before he could even register what was happening, QT was dislodged from the ship and sent careening past. Artoo shot his cable grabbing the yellow astromech at the last second.

Artoo began to fly off as well and so Spinner shot his cable and caught Artoo, desperately digging his treads into the smooth surface of the ship trying to slow his progress into flying off into endless space. He felt BZ's cable latch onto the back of his body and with the last of his strength, Spinner ignited his rocket boosters, giving him enough force to latch onto the edge of the ship. He spun his head around looking at BZ and started to motor as hard as he could in reverse, BZ did the same. They slowly but surely pulled QT and Artoo back to safety.

All of the astromechs hurriedly made their way back inside, upon entering the cockpit Spinner could see a stark planet ahead.

"We've lost primary stabilizers, we're going to have to put her down on that planet," WAC said,

"What planet is it!" Gascon yelled as the ship went hurtling toward it, "Is it Separatist controlled!"

"Who cares?" WAC asked,

"I care! We can't jeopardize the mission!" he shouted back,

"I think we are past that point, sir," WAC replied, they burst through the dusty layer, the ship starting to burn up as they descended. Alarms started beeping frantically as WAC tried his best to land the ship smoothly.

"We're going down!" Gascon screamed, the ship plummeted into the crystalized sand, sending all of the inhabitants flying across the ship. The ship finally skidded to a halt and after a few moments, the inhabitants slowly rose to their feet. Bright sunlight streamed through the viewport window as the dust and sparks settled. "I think I ruptured my gizzard," Gascon grumbled, Spinner grabbed the encryption module off of the ground and quickly stored it away.

_'Let's go survey the damage,'_ Artoo said, and the rest of the astromechs followed after him. They exited the ship to find… nothing. Absolutely nothing, it was just a void. Nothing but an endless expanse of crystalized sand, and an orangey backdrop. It was like when Esinon had told him about the black void in the cave, back when she was a simpler person.

Spinner was glad she had grown into the person she wanted to be but after Zygerria. She had been so different, sometimes Spinner missed the old her. Artoo held up his satellite trying to figure out where they were, Artoo let out a small whine at the sight of the planet and the fact that his satellite was picking up nothing. Gascon stumbled out of the ship looking out upon the void.

"Well, this is a fine mess you mechs got us into," he grumbled, Spinner sighed, he really hated this guy. He was like a tiny Krell, just minus the murder and betrayal part. Just the prejudice part. Artoo whistled as he was finally able to get the data file of the planet they were on, he turned so they could all see the holo projection. Although, the revelation of the data file did not seem to please Gascon, "look at this," he snapped, "All the database says is, 'Abafar, information on planet void.'"

_'Then we should go have a look around,'_ Spinner replied,

"Don't be absurd," Gascon bit back, "We can't just go rushing off like fools into this… this void." he waved the hologram away, "We need to stay put, consider all the facts," Spinner turned around quickly calculating which way was north. "And then I'll uh- draw up a reconnaissance plan. And we can… hey! Hey!" Gascon shouted as Spinner began to start off north. "Where are you going soldier!"

_'To completely our mission!'_ he replied, ignoring whatever WAC and Gascon were talking about next, instead, he heard the sound of two more pairs of treds join in behind him.

"I will not stand for insubordination!" Gascon shouted, but the droids ignored him. A few more unintelligible things were said between WAC and Gascon before the Colonel yelled again, as BZ chased after them with Gascon riding in the top. "I will not let you droids commandeer my mission!"

**A few hours later…**

It had been hours since they first left the ship and Spinner had continued to head north. If they headed far enough north they should hit something, at least that's what Esinon had said about survival skills. But nothing had changed in hours, and there was sand starting to stick to every part of his body. It was in his treds, every tiny crack and crevice, and his mechanical eye was somewhat blurred by the thin layer of grime covering it. His gears felt like they were melting, it was scalding out here. Spinner was torn from his thoughts when Gascon kicked open the lid to BZ's head.

"I can't believe I was this close to completing my first mission, only to get lost in this detestable desert," he said glumly,

"Look on the bright side colonel," WAC said, "At least it is a sunny day out," he motioned to the orange-tinted sky above. Spinner looked up and then realized that there was no sun. So where was all of this light and heat coming from?

"What sun?" Gascon asked, looking up at the vacant sky, "I don't see any sun. It's just hot and oppressive," the Zilkin's brow furrowed, and he jumped off of BZ. "There's no sun," he repeated, "How do we know which direction we're going!"

_'I set my directional guide to north,'_ Spinner replied,

"You did what?" Gascon shouted, jumping about a foot off the ground in rage. "That's all we've been going on!" he jumped up onto Spinner's dome getting right in his mechanical lense, "Some rudimentary programming directive in a lousy astromech!" Spinner shook Gascon off,

_'I'm not some lousy astromech! I am a very capable and more competent astromech than you, and unlike you, I am programmed for navigation. I help Esinon fly her fighter and ships all of the time, she would get lost in space without me.'_

"Yes, I know you're designed for navigation," Gascon grumbled, stomping after Spinner as the astromech started off again. Gascon got in front of Spinner and he begrudgingly stopped even though he could have easily trucked the annoying Zilkin. "But that requires map coordinates and environmental output, something we are sorely lacking right now."

_'Esinon always said if you want to survive, start heading north,'_ Spinner replied, _'I trust her with my life,'_

"We're not trusting technology right now," Gascon said, pulling his water bottle out of BZ's head. "We're going to rely on my training, something you droids don't have," Spinner would have rolled his eyes if he had some.

"How do you know Colonel?" WAC asked, turning his back to the Zilkin and crossing his arms.

"Because droids don't get training, they get programming," he said, throwing his empty water bottle at QT's head causing the droid to yell a string of curses at Gascon which he ignored.

_'Same difference,'_ Spinner grumbled,

"That's your weakness!" Gascon shouted, jabbing an accusatory finger at all of them,

"So how is your training going to lead us out of this void?" WAC asked,

"Well- uh, my uh-" Gascon said, getting flustered, "my training as an officer says to use all available resources to, uh- to stay alive until helps comes,"

"So your officer training," WAC began, "how did you learn that?" Spinner let out a small chuckle realizing where WAC was going with this.

"It was drilled into me by my superiors," he replied,

"Then you were programmed," WAC said, placing his hands on his hips. "Just like us,"

"What?" Gascon sputtered, "No, I am not like you droids in any way. I can think outside my programm- I- I mean my training. And I can make decisions based on complex analysis of a situation which is why I insist we return to the ship." Gascon looked out at the stark void, "Wait, I can't find our tracks, where are our tracks?"

"There are not any," WAC replied,

"What?!" Gascon exclaimed, horrified,

"I noticed it early," WAC said matter of factly, "this surface leaves no tracks,"

"You noticed it early?" Gascon grumbled, "Why in the world didn't you say anything!"

_'Because we had no reason to go back to the ship,'_ Spinner replied,_ 'There are no supplies there, and no one will come looking for us for a few days tops. You can't survive without water that long, I think best to keep heading north._' Gascon groaned, dragging his hands down his face.

"Why are you thinking?" he grumbled, "I don't want you to think! It's my job to think! I am the commanding officer, you're just an astromech."

_'An astromech who has been fighting alongside Jedi and clones alike for his entire life,'_ Spinner snapped, Gascon let out a loud groan, walking away from D-squad.

"Colonel!" WAC called, chasing after the Zilkin, "I was thinking,"

"I told you not to do that," he grumbled, the rest of D-squad began to follow after as well.

"My programming keeps me focused on the task at hand," WAC explained, "which means I do not have to worry about my health. I just have to worry about the mission-"

"Don't even go there," Gascon said, jabbing a finger up at WAC.

"So I think-"

"Don't do that!"

"When you die, I should lead D-squad," The pilot droid finished,

"Stop!" Gascon shouted, jumping in front of WAC halting all of D-squad. "You are what's killing me! I can't believe I am forced to justify my existence with a droid! Ugh! I'm at the end! I can feel it. All I ask is you let me die with dignity!" the Zilkin shook his fists up angrily at the sky as he sunk to his knees. Artoo put up his satellite again trying to search for any sides of a formation in this desolation.

"Is that possible?" WAC asked, Artoo suddenly beeped excitedly, motioning to a shipwreck not far off with a probe.

"What? Our ship?" Gascon exclaimed, he jumped up on top of BZ's head to view the crash. He let out a laugh of disbelief, "You… you stupid lucky droids! You have just taken us in a circle!" Spinner was pretty sure his navigator had been working, but he wasn't sure if it had been damaged in the crash. Instead, he followed after the rest of D-squad, as they neared the crash they realized it was in fact not their crash. "Wait a minute, is that our ship? How long have we been gone?" Spinner used his rocket boosters to get up on top of the ship to peer in. A long-forgotten skeleton lay in the bottom with a pilot uniform.

_'This isn't our ship…"_ Spinner said,

"No, no, no!" He shouted, jumping off of BZ. The Zlikin sprinted up to the ship finding the same remains that Spinner had.

"Spinner is right," WAC said, "This is what happens when you stay on the ship." Gascon sunk to his knees,

"Why is this happening to me!"

* * *

There was no information, nothing that would indicate land. Spinner was starting to think he was going to run out of power out here. They watched as Gascon climbed to the top of the ship and looked out over the barren wasteland.

"Maybe he is going to jump," WAC said, "Put himself out of his misery. Well, I vote myself as the new leader of this mission."

_'I don't want you as leader,'_ QT beeped,_ 'I want Spinner as our leader,'_

_'Me too,'_ Artoo said, _'I vote for Spinner as our leader,'_

"You cannot vote for Spinner," WAC said, "he is just a mech, he cannot lead a squadron." Spinner rammed into WAC,

_'I'm not just a mech and I am CERTAINLY more competent than you.'_

"Help!" the Colonel yelled, "There has to be something out here! Show me a sign! A glimmer of hope!"

_'This doesn't look good,'_ BZ said, _'And who is he talking to?'_

"I do not know who he is talking to," WAC replied, "Maybe whoever programmed him,"

_'Whenever Esinon does that she's usually yelling at the force, maybe that's who he's yelling at,'_

"Ooo!" Gascon suddenly yelled, "A village!" the droids looked out on the void to find nothing there. The Zilkin jumped down from the ship and started sprinting towards the 'village'. "What are you waiting for?! We're saved!" WAC began chasing after the colonel, as well as the rest of D-squad running after. After a few more minutes, Gascon realized the village he was seeing was only a mirage, he picked up the small water bottle he had earlier thrown at QT. "No," he growled, "We're going in circles again!" Gascon finally broke and started laughing and dancing around hysterically, most likely from heat exhaustion and dehydration.

"We cannot trust his training anymore," WAC said, he pointed at Spinner, "But we cannot trust your programming either, especially if you will not vote for me to be the new leader."

_'Fine, we don't need a pilot anyways. I know how to fly a ship.'_ Spinner replied, before starting off north again.

"That is not true! You do need me! And I am more than just a pilot!"

**A few hours later…**

D-Squad had actually found a village, minus WAC, and the colonel who had stayed behind. Spinner felt bad for leaving them, but they weren't getting anywhere. He assumed that they had either died or had started wandering around again and would hopefully end up at this village, it was small, dusty, and certainly void of any law enforcement but there were people here. Abafar was a populated planet, Artoo had made a note of the coordinates of the town in the data file in case anyone should crash here again. Artoo whistled, motioning to Colonel Gascon and WAC who had by some miracle of the force actually made their way out here. A few seconds later WAC called down to them,

"Attention! Front and center, soldiers! I want us ready to roll, pronto, pronto!" WAC said,

'Hey! Uh- no one voted you as leader WAC!' Artoo shouted as Spinner shook his head.

"That is corporal WAC to you soldier," WAC replied, Spinner groaned, of course, Gascon would promote someone as incompetent as him. "And I will not tolerate insubordination!

_'We don't need to listen to him, I have the chip,' _Spinner said,_ 'Let's just go and find a ship. There has to be a ship somewhere in here.'_ the other droids whirred in agreement, and followed after Spinner.

* * *

**I'M LATE AGAIN! I'M SO SORRY**

**Yesterday was kinda hectic, I had two back to back tests and that wiped me (it was Bio 2 and Algebra 2 Honors) and then I had tennis for the first time in a week and I went to be at nine forty five which I never do on a Friday night. I'm really sorry I'm late, but enjoy Spinner being done with WAC and Gascon this entire chapter. My poor little guy is getting tired **

**And do yall remember the gray Jedi? I know some fans don't think it's a thing, but I do. I don't think Ahsoka was necessarily a gray Jedi, more of a light side force user, but I think Qui-Gon could be considered a gray Jedi because he constantly distanced himself from the council and seemed very liberal about different rules in the order so I could see it. **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: Spinner misses thirteen year old Esinon sometimes **

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review!**


	52. The Wrong Jedi

Unfortunately, they didn't make it very far before WAC and Gascon came after them. They entered a new section of the village, more dust and small clay houses.

'_This place reminds me of Tatooine,' _Artoo said, watching lifeforms of all different kinds walking around.

"I have never been there before," WAC replied, "but if it reminds you of this place Artoo, I don't think I want to go there anytime soon." They continued for a few more moments in silence,

'_These people look dangerous,' _QT mumbled,

"Don't be absurd QT," Gascon replied, "These people aren't dangerous," Of course Gascon didn't see when Aleena ran out from an alleyway and held someone at knifepoint and mugged them before darting back off into the darkness. "Most of these people are probably hiding from someone or something. That's the way it is in these outer rim armpits. Nobody's here by choice. Which goes double for me."

"I hope you have a plan to get us off this armpit Colonel," WAC replied,

"Of course I do Corporal," Gascon replied, "All we need is a communication uplink and someone fuel."

'_But our shuttle is still in the void and we aren't getting back to it.' _Artoo added,

"Thank you for the reminder Artoo, but I'm well aware our shuttle is lost in the void. I'm talking about fuel for me. You droids can putter along on battery power, but I need food to survive."

"My power cells are running low too," WAC said, "And an oil bath would be nice too. All this dust is wreaking havoc on my joints,"

'_Me too! That sounds amazing right about now,' _BZ replied,

"Forget it BZ," Gascon snapped, "We are not on vacation here. R11, is the encryption module safe?"

'_No thanks to you,' _he replied, Gascon glared at him but for the moment before he decided to ignore it.

"Nothing short of death or dismemberment will stop Colonel Meebur Gascon from delivering that module to Coruscant." The door to a restaurant slid open and a twi'lek walked out, "Well I'll be," Gascon murmured, "A diner. A place of eating." he chuckled, "I'm saved! R11, you and the other mechs scout the perimeter. Find out if there are any unfriendlies." Spinner decided not to argue and instead obeyed, D-Squad stuck together deciding that they weren't exactly in a rush. After a while of wandering around, they hadn't found anything, just some thugs and criminals but no one innate Separatist looking. Until they were about to exit an alley and stumbled upon a pod of Seppie droids. Spinner peeked out and around the alleyway,

'_That's not good…' _Spinner murmured, '_Come on, we've gotta tell the colonel what we've found.' _

* * *

"So what's the scouting report?" Gascon asked as soon as they met back up.

'_We saw a pod of Separatist droids,' _Artoo reported,

"Separatist droids?" Gascon asked, "hmm, well that complicates matters. Alright, well I'll come with a plan of some sort," Spinner poked his head around the alleyway and spotted a tall man in light blue pants and a yellow vest, with the brown complexion that matched a clone… along with the same hair color… there was no way. No way that a clone could be out this far.

**A few hours later…**

"Colonel," WAC began as they all made their way through the streets of Abafar. "I cannot help but notice that we are on our third plan." Gascon rolled his eyes,

"Smart battle strategy requires flexibility and improvisation," he said, "something droids aren't known for."

'_Droids aren't flexible because we're programmed to get it right the first time. We don't make mistakes,' _Spinner said,

"Spinner is right," WAC said, "Droids are not known for being flexible, because we are programmed to be right the first time."

"Well, answer me this Corporal," Gascon said, "if the Jedi council thought one of your droids were better prepared to lead this mission, then why did they put me in charge?"

"Because you were the only one who could fit inside BZ's head," WAC said matter of factly,

"No," Gascon sputtered, "It is because my power of deduction told me that if there are Separatist droids on Abafar then there must be a landing zone nearby where there will no doubt be a shuttle to take us home." They finally rolled to a stop where there was indeed, a landing zone, crawling with droids, and a fully prepped shuttle. "That, Corporal, is why I'm in charge. Now, we are going to waltz down there undetected just like we did on the dreadnaught and commander that shuttle without incident. A murmur went through the crowd of droids, remembering how terrible the mission on the dreadnaught went.

"The mechs have a point colonel," WAC said, "After what we did on the dreadnaught, those battle droids probably have our identities scanned. We will have to fight our way onto the shuttle this time."

"Hmm," Gascon murmured, "You droids may have a point. But there is no way in Malachor that I'm going to lead this pitiful squad on an assault of that landing zone."

"What is the plan now Colonel?" WAC asked,

"We're going to wait until our clone gets off of work," Spinner froze, so he had seen a clone. But what was a clone doing here? How did he get here? And who was he?

* * *

Artoo rolled over the clone's window, leaning forward so that the projection he was about to cast would reach the clone's view. The holoprojector flicked on with a satisfying hum as a projection flickered to life inside the clone's apartment. Spinner didn't see much happen until they all entered the hut and he instantly froze,

'_Gregor?' _

* * *

"Ok, ok, slow down, you're telling me there are more of these… clones?" Gregor asked,

"Millions. A whole army's worth!" WAC exclaimed,

"Uh-huh, and they all look exactly like me?" he asked, scratching his beard.

"No." Gascon replied, jumping up onto a higher vantage point. "Those clones are warriors, professional soldiers created by the Republic, trained to fight and die if necessary in our war against the Separatists. They are not dishwashers living in some vermin-infested hovel!" he exclaimed, stamping his foot over a bug that was crawling along with the box. Spinner beeped trying to get the Colonel's attention, but WAC immediately shushed him.

"Look, I'm lucky to live in this place." Gregor argued, "Mr. Borkus says my salary doesn't even cover the rent, so he makes up the difference."

"Don't you get it, Gregor? You're his slave!" Gascon shouted, exasperated, "We need to figure out who you really are, how you got here. Are you sure you don't remember anything?"

"_He doesn't, but I do! I know who Gregor is!" _Spinner exclaimed,

"You know this clone R11?" Gascon asked, finally turning his attention to the droid,

"_Yes, and for the last time my name is Spinner," _he said, tiredly,

"Fine, Spinner, who is this clone?"

"_This is Captain Gregor of Foxtrot group. An elite group of clone commandos that served under the 212th attack battalion. This clone is Esinon's friend!" _Spinner explained,

"Impressive, Gregor, does this jog your memory at all?" Gascon asked, turning his attention back to the clone.

"Well, I remember waking up on a transport, somehow we crashed on Abafar. And well, Mr. Borkus says I have amnesia."

"R11, what happened to Gregor after that?" Gascon asked,

"_Gregor was reported MIA at the battle of..." _

"Spit it out!"

"_The battle of Sarrish." _Spinner mumbled, all the droids beeped frantically, and Gascon hung his head.

"Sarrish? What happened at Sarrish?" Gregor asked,

"It was one of the Republic's most devastating losses," Gascon explained,

"Sarrish," Gregor mumbled again, "Yes, yes, I remember now. So many soldiers were dying." he gripped his head, wishing the memory would end but pressed further searching for answers in the suffering.

"Do you remember how you escaped Sarrish?"

"No, I just remember seeing all those bodies." Gregor replied, slowly, "Bodies everywhere. I knew I had to get help, but that's where the memory stops."

"Well soldier, there's nothing you can do about that battle now, but you can help us. Our mission depends on it." Gascon said, placing his hands behind his back,

"I'm really sorry, but I'm not much help to anyone anymore. It's best if I just stay here." Gregor said, wringing his fingers.

"But-"

"_Colonel, I think I can get Gregor to help us. Just give me five minutes with him alone." _Spinner twittered,

"Alright, Spinner, don't fail me soldier." the rest of the droids exited with Gascon.

"I'm really sorry, Spinner? Is it?" Spinner beeped a yes, "I just don't think I'll be of any help to anyone." Spinner's hologram projector flickered to life,

"Commander Esinon Windcaster, reporting for duty," a young girl said, snapping into a salute, "Was that good?"

"You're getting better is," A voice that sounded eerily like his from off-camera. She flashed a broad smile up at the camera and the hologram froze, Gregor stared at her face, yellow markings, and a scar on her forehead.

'_Do you recognize her?' _Spinner asked, Gregor squinted at her face for a moment before getting to his feet and starting to rummage around wildly, throwing things all over his apartment.

"Where is it?" He growled, throwing open another cabinet.

'_What are you doing?' _Spinner asked, Gregor didn't answer as a box flew past Spinner's head. He finally settled on what he was looking for, a printed out holo, yellowed with age, dusty from Abafar's surface. He stared down at the picture before looking back up at the hologram of the girl.

"That girl, who is she?" he asked,

'_That's Esinon Windcaster, you were friends with her before you crashed here.' _he said, Gregor flipped the picture around so that Spinner could see. It was a picture of Esinon with Gregor, after a mission of some sort.

"I found this on me when I woke up, I kept it because I thought if I had a picture of… of Esinon then she must be important to me. You said she was a… a-"

'_A Commander?' _

"Yeah, that,"

'_But she was more than that to you, to your squad. She was your friend, she loved you and you loved her. Can you remember anything about her, Cody, the 212th, Foxtrot?' _ Gregor stared at the ground for a moment before shifting his gaze back to the old holo in his hand.

"It's fuzzy… but I'll have dreams or flashes of soldiers, battles, and… Esinon." Spinner gave him an affirmation nod. "What's she like now? Has she changed? How many years have I been gone? Does anyone still remember me?"

'_She's… different. War changes people I guess, that's what Cody tells me anyway. You've been gone for three years now, everyone thinks you're dead." _

"If I helped you guys, do you think I could come back?"

'_Of course! Everyone will be thrilled to find out you're alive!" _Gregor grinned,

"Give me five minutes," he said,

* * *

Spinner followed Gregor out of his apartment, feeling very satisfied with himself. Gregor had shaven his head in his old closely buzzed haircut, he was really starting to look like himself.

"I figured at least looking like a soldier might bring back some old memories," he said, rubbing his buzzed head. "Until we recover my equipment anyways," Gascon smiled, "I overheard you guys talking, I think I know where my armor is. Let's go check out the diner," D-squad followed after Gregor and made the short walk to the diner where they began their thorough search for Gregor's armor.

"Step it up soldiers," Gascon said, after the first few minutes of successful searching. "This isn't a party, we do not have all night." The blast door to the diner whooshed open and Borkus walked in with a scowl on his face and dragging a large box behind him.

"Looking for this?" he asked with a cruel chuckle, he pulled off the lid of the box to reveal Gregor's armor.

"My uniform, my equipment," Gregor said, slamming his hands down on the counter. "All this time you knew who I was and you didn't tell me?" Gregor snapped, pointing an accusatory finger at Borkus. "Why?"

"I don't care who you were," he replied, "You are dishwasher now. And you owe me for saving you from your crash. Your life is mine Gregor,"

"You didn't save me," Gregor growled, "You turned me into a slave, I've worked in this dump taking orders from you when I could have been fighting for the Republic! I want my life back," Gregor took a threatening step towards Borkus which caused the man to grab the blaster out of Gregor's equipment.

"You want your freedom, Gregor?" Borkus asked, pointing the blaster at the clone's heart. "Take your gun from me, show me you're a soldier," Gregor lunged for the blaster but Borkus pulled back at the last second and bashed it over Gregor's head. The clone fell face down in his equipment, "You are no soldier, you are dishwasher," Suddenly BZ rammed in Borkus's legs causing him to stumble. Borkus whipped around trying to aim the blaster at the astromech but QT's magnetic chip flew out of his head and grabbed the blaster, while Spinner and R2 fired their cables, wrenching both of the man's arms outward. The two of them spun circles around Borkus tying him up. "Why you good for nothing droids! Let go of me!" The two droids pulled Borkus to the ground,

"Take you things, Gregor," Gascon said as the clone slowly rose, rubbing the back of his head. "We're getting out of here," Gregor picked up his tally mark littered helmet, running his thumb along the worn plastoid, starting to remember.

"Don't leave Gregor," Borkus said, wriggling on the ground, "It's a big galaxy out there, bigger than you know. Stay here, where your life is simple." Gregor placed his helmet back in the box and pulled the lid over it before rising to his feet.

"Simple isn't good enough anymore." he began dragging the box behind him, with the rest of D-squad behind him, "Not for this clone," Borkus let out another cruel chuckle,

"You'll never make it off of Abafar, you and your little Republic friends, not after your Jedi cruiser blows up," Spinner whipped around,

"What are you talking about?" Gascon demanded,

"Why do you think the Separatists bother coming here? They are mining our Rhydonium to load onto a shuttle to destroy your ride home." Gascon glanced back at Gregor trying to figure out if they should believe this man. "You will see," Borkus said, "You will all be stuck here, begging Borkus for a job at his diner." Spinner turned around and exited the building listening to Borkus cackle maniacally,

* * *

D-Squad crept forward, finally arriving at the Separatist landing platform. Spinner poked his head out from behind the corner,

"Ok, let's see what we're up against Gregor," Gascon said, the commando nodded, donning his helmet and climbed up onto a stack of crates to get a better vantage point.

"There's a cruiser up there," Gregor said after a few seconds, "And that shuttle, I think… yes, it's being loaded with Rhydonium canisters." he jumped back down, "huh, guess Mr. Borkus was telling the truth- for once."

"What exactly is Rhydonium?" WAC asked,

'_It's a volatile fuel, and it's very dangerous,' _Spinner explained,

"It's mostly mined here on Abafar," Gregor added,

"Yes, we have a new mission:" Gascon said, "Stop the Separatists from blowing up that cruiser,"

"I'll cover you and clear the way, Colonel," Gregor said, "You all head straight to the shuttle. I'll take care of those clankers," Spinner whirred and his head spun around in excitement of everything Gregor was starting to remember.

"Hmm," Gascon said, "Sounds like a good plan, you soldiers ready to get dangerous?"

'_I'm Anakin Skywalker's droid, my middle name is danger,' _Artoo replied,

"I'll meet you at the shuttle, sir," Gregor said, getting back up on the crates, Gascon gave him a firm nod,

"Let's roll," he closed the hatch on BZ's head. And with that, D-squad rolled out.

"Hey!" A Separatist droid shouted as he spotted D-Squad, "You need authorization to enter this area. Two blue shots fired and took out the droids and D-Squad pressed forward, Gregor close on their tail. He took out two more droids in rapid succession before splitting off from the group. Now D-Squad was moving quickly as they made it into the heart of the landing deck. Red fire began to blend with Gregor's blue, as more and more droids took notice of the clone commando. A few seconds later, an explosion of brilliant colors rocked Spinner as Gregor shot a Rhydonium can.

"Just keep moving!" WAC shouted over the explosions and blaster fire. "It's all under control!" They pressed forward, another explosion going off, Spinner pushed himself as fast as he possibly could as a pair of B1s began firing at D-Squad, "They are onto us!" An explosion went off right next to WAC and BZ, throwing them both roughly to the ground. "Colonel can you hear me!"

"Save yourselves!" Gascon shouted from inside BZ's head, and D-Squad obeyed and kept making their way to the shuttle. Three of the four astromechs headed into the shuttle, a few moments later, WAC sprinted up the ramp and skidded into the cockpit, beginning the shuttle in it's starting cycle. BZ and Gascon were the last on the ship. The battle was still continuing as they started into the sky, Spinner beeped worriedly as Gregor had still not made a break for the ship.

"It's been an honor serving with you Colonel," Gregor said, Spinner stared at the clone for a moment realizing what Gregor was doing. And unfortunately, there was nothing that Spinner could do to stop him. The hatch to the shuttle close and they rose higher and higher into the sky,

"Where's Gregor?" WAC asked,

"He's doing what a soldier does," Gascon replied, "sacrificing himself for the lives of others."

"Don't worry!" Gregor shouted into his comlink, "I'll make my way back home, I promise!" and with that, his com went dark and the landing platform went up in a brilliant, sparkling, explosion. If Spinner knew one thing about Gregor, he always kept his promises.

**Republic Strategy Convention… **

Esinon stared out the viewport window at all of the Jedi cruisers that had arrived for the Convention. Everyone was here, and Anakin was still aggressively pacing next to her. He sighed,

"That worst part of our job is these boring strategy conferences," he said, to Obi-Wan who was standing next to them.

"Cheer up Anakin," Obi-Wan replied, "This is your chance to voice all of your complaints about military protocol," Esinon chuckled, watching as another cruiser pulled towards the station.

"And it looks like we can finally get started," she said,

"I'll go inform Master Windu that the straggler has arrived, while you work on your attitude," Obi-Wan replied, walking off to find the elder Master.

"That ship is coming in kinda fast," Esinon said slowly, Anakin peered out the window,

"You're right Speedy," clones on the bridge frantically got to work,

"The cruiser has not slowed its pace," Tarkin reported,

"Have you been able to contact their Captain?" Anakin asked, Z9 beeped down from below,

"Z9 says he can't make contact with anyone." Esinon sighed,

"Where's Spinner when I need him," she muttered, before Esinon could even react to a gorgeous explosion of Rhydonium went off in the Jedi cruiser. A bright light appeared as the explosion imploded on itself and sent a sonic reverberation into the station, sending all of the inhabitants to their feet. Esinon ducked down as shrapnel began pounding the station,

"And you this conference would be boring," Obi-Wan said, Anakin scowled and Esinon rolled her eyes.

"Really Master?" she asked, getting back to her feet, "You want to do witty remarks now?" Obi-Wan shrugged,

"I prove my point, didn't I?" They were all rocked again as another piece of shrapnel hit the cruiser. Suddenly a button on the control panel started blinking,

"Mayday, mayday, this is Colonel Meebur Gascon. Can anybody hear me?" Gascon's voice asked through the device. Anakin pressed the button, answering the hailing,

"We read you, colonel, this is General Skywalker," Anakin replied, "What's going on out there?"

"Slight change in our mission General," Gascon replied, "The droids and I were stowaways on that cruiser,

"Where's R2?" Anakin demanded,

"He's here with me," Gascon said, Anakin let out a breath of relief,

"What about Spinner?" Esinon interjected frantically, "Is he ok?"

"I'm sorry to report he was on that ship when it blew up Commander," Gascon replied sadly, "he just saved all of our lives."

"I want a salvage team out there now!" Anakin commanded, seeing the grief-stricken look that crossed Esinon's face.

"Yes sir," A clone replied, Anakin turned back to Esinon,

"We're gonna find him Esinon, and then we can repair him. Spinner's not gone," she forced a nod, she couldn't bear to lose her droid. Some people thought it was stupid for her to be so attached to a droid but that droid had been there for her when no else had been.

* * *

Esinon used her speed to sprint down to the hanger where Spinner was just finishing his repairs. He whirred and beeped excitedly, rocking in the suspense that was holding up in the air upside down.

"You made it buddy!" She exclaimed, the machine turned him right side up and set him carefully on the ground. She knelt down to greet her droid, wrapping him in a tight hug as he rammed into her. "You're a big hero, I'm so proud of you," they pulled away, "There's someone here who wants to talk to you," D-Squad rolled out from the shadows and Gascon jumped down in front of Spinner,

"Spinner, we are glad to see you," he greeted,

"I am most glad!" WAC exclaimed excitedly, Esinon smiled down at the small group of droids… friends.

"Quiet WAC," Gascon commanded, stamping his foot on the ground. "I'm talking here," The droid saluted the colonel,

"Yes sir,"

"In truth, I might be just a map reader," Gascon resumed, "and I don't have much battle experience, but Spinner, you are the bravest droid I have ever met. You all are, I would be proud to serve with you droids anytime, anywhere." Gascon saluted the group,

"Well, I am glad to hear that Colonel," WAC replied, "because I hear we have been assigned to the same platoon! We will be seeing each other every day for the rest of the war!"

"That's great WAC…" Gascon said slowly, rubbing the back of his head. Esinon chuckled watching the eccentric pilot droid jump around. Esinon patted Spinner's head,

"It's good to have you back buddy."

**One month later…**

Being a Jedi protectorate at Elliot's wedding was fine, until her cousin decided to play matchmaker and invite Korkie. He knew things had been difficult between them because of the whole gray Jedi thing.

She really wanted to get back together with Korkie, but she didn't think she could ever fix it. She'd decided it was better this way, to stay apart. Sure she wished it could be different, but she was a Jedi and he was a prince, it just couldn't be and she was foolish for thinking it could.

She glanced around the room, nodding to different family members, Elliot had called for a 'Jedi protectorate' just so she could be here. The council was keeping her on a tight leash at the moment. She thumbed the bouquet of yellow roses that Piper had thrown behind her. Whoever caught them was said to be the next to get married, which was inconvenient because Esinon was never going to get married... Elliot wandered over to her.

"Having fun cuz?" he asked, Esinon rolled her eyes as Elliot wrapped an arm around her. She leaned into the embrace,

"Shouldn't you be with your wife?" she asked,

"Nah, Dad's talking to her right now. She'll be fine on her own," he replied, "Have you and Korkie talked at all?"

"I'm still mad at you for trying to play matchmaker." she grumbled, "And you know that I can't… entertain any of that anymore. The council is keeping me on a tight leash as it is. If they ever found out, it would be bye, bye to the Jedi order." Esinon glanced over in Korkie's direction,

"Well, who cares? Esinon, you're in love! If you lose the Jedi because of love, who cares?"

"I care, Elliot, I care a lot," she said, looking over in Korkie's direction again.

"Esinon, please for once to something for yourself. You're worth more than just a Jedi, you deserve what you want for once." Elliot said, "So just go to him. He's been staring at you all night long, just go to him Esinon. Please, I'll cover for you. Go, go, go, go," he said, shoving his little cousin forward. Esinon sighed, she couldn't do this, yet she kept walking in Korkie's direction. For the first time, she knew what she wanted, she knew, she knew, she knew.

"Can I… talk to you for a minute?" she asked as soon as she got to Korkie's position. He nodded, fiddling with his cufflinks, she grabbed his hand pulling him out of the building and into the gardens.

"So," he said, as they walked a ways apart from one another, she swung her arms,

"So," she mumbled, "I wanted to talk about… us."

"Us," he repeated, glancing over at her before quickly refocusing on the ground. She finally stopped in her tracks,

"For the first time in my life I actually know what I want," she said, "And I want to be with you! And I am so sorry that I ever left, and I know you probably hate me, and don't want to be with me anymore and-" Korkie's lips crashed into hers, she gave a little sigh of relief as she closed her eyes and wrapped an arm around his back. They stumbled back into a wall as they finally broke apart for air, "I'm so sorry,"

"I love you," Korkie mumbled as they kissed again, softer this time. "And I want to get back together, if that's what you want." She responded by kissing him again, "I'll take that as a yes,"

"I've really missed you," She hugged him close, as he kissed her temple,

"I've really missed us," Korkie said, he let out a shuddered breath as she giggled softly. She tucked her head in the crook of his neck,

"I love you, I love you, I love you," she whispered, Korkie chuckled,

"I love you, I love you, I love you too,"

**Five months later…**

Esinon hummed along to the song that was playing on the radio as she worked on the underbelly of her fighter in the Jedi temple hanger. She tapped her foot while she tightened a wire that would help her blaster fire with a little more oomph.

"Spinner! Will hand me that socket plug!" she called, sticking out her hand and soon the tool was placed in her hand.

'_Can we take a break soon?' _Spinner asked,

"Not yet, I'm almost done, I promi-" she rolled out from under her fighter, she could sense something… something was comi- _BOOM! _Esinon was thrown into the air before crashing onto the ground, feeling her skin blister from the heat. For a moment she didn't move, she didn't know how injured she was. After making sure that nothing was bleeding too badly, she fell into flash time and used her superspeed to start collecting people from the hanger.

She got everyone to a safe distance and finally came back to real-time and sank to her knees looking up at her smoking home. Her skin was burnt and raw and she could hear people crying, and screaming, but it was falling to the background as her ears rang. All she could see was smoking curling into the sky, and flames licking at the walls.

The Jedi temple had been bombed.

* * *

Esinon winced as the medical droid slathered bacta over her burns. They weren't as terrible as others she'd had, but they still hurt. She glanced up as the doors to the halls of healing whooshed open and Obi-Wan entered,

"Esinon, are you alright?" he asked, she forced a nod. In actuality, she wasn't. Someone had bombed the temple. Her home.

"Just some burns, second degree, but I'm gonna be fine," she replied, Obi-Wan nodded warily, his comlink beeped.

"Obi-Wan, we need you in the high council room. We have an emergency meeting, Tano and Skywalker are back," Master Windu said,

"I'm on my way," Obi-Wan replied

"Master, what's happening?" Esinon asked,

"We'll talk later, ok?" she nodded and with that, her Master was gone.

* * *

"Is there any more information?" Korkie asked, stopping his anxious pacing for just a moment. He could see the smoke of the temple from here, and he knew Esinon wasn't deployed at the moment. He just wanted to make sure she was ok.

"No Korkie, not since you asked four seconds ago," Satine replied, her nephew resumed his pacing. They had seen the explosion from the apartment and had been watching the news for updates ever since, but of course, there wasn't much because the Jedi would try to be quiet about an internal affair like this. Satine's comlink buzzed,

"Satine," Padme said as soon as her hologram appeared, "Could you come to Daniel's office?" she asked, Satine nodded,

"I'm on my way," the transmission cut out, "Will you be alright here?" he nodded, and his Aunt exited the room. He sat down on the couch, pulling his knees to his chest, watching the holo news hoping to catch a glimpse of his girlfriend. He really did not want to be told she was dead. He shook his head, shoving the anxious thought away. He sat in silence for a few more moments when he heard a knock at the door. He got up and open the door and Esinon slowly entered,

"Esinon!" he exclaimed, he could see bandages sticking out from underneath her robes, she looked exhausted and emotionally drained. "Are you alright?" She nodded, but he could tell she wasn't ok, he gently led her to sit down on the couch. She instantly curled up against him, "it's alright, I've got you," he murmured, wrapping his arms around her. She didn't respond, everything she wanted to say was trapped in her head. So she just curled in further and tried to block out the screams still ringing in her ears.

* * *

A Jedi. Some people thought it had been a Jedi. She could hear the shouts of protestors through the closed windows of her apartment. She tugged the blanket around her shoulders a little tighter, trying to focus on the song that was playing on the radio instead of the shouts. Public opinion was swaying against the Jedi, every day that his war dragged on. But she more than anymore wanted it to end.

**One day later...**

Esinon was standing next to Barriss, with Ahsoka on the other side of Barris, Esinon had been staring at her feet for most of the funeral ceremony. Five Jedi had died in the explosion, that could have been her. If not for her speed, she would be dead.

"One with the force they are," Master Yoda began solemnly, "And our job it is to remember that we will, in time, pass on. Luminous beings are we, but temporary vessels, our bodies are. And we shall all find ourselves here in time. A moment of silence I ask, to remember and move on." Esinon bowed her head, and continued to stare at her feet. She heard Barriss give a harsh breath next to her, it wasn't often that Barris was in distress like this. She was usually so calm and composed.

"You were close to one of them?" Ahsoka asked quietly,

"Tutso Mara," Barriss replied, "We trained together, he taught me how to hold my lightsaber correctly,"

"Live for the living Jedi we must," Master Yoda said, "live through us forever they will," Esinon was able to let a weak smile crawl onto her face, she knew where these Jedi were going. They were going to paradise. And with that, the bodies sunk into the ground, and five beams of light shot up into the sky.

* * *

Esinon wasn't paying attention to what Obi-Wan was saying, granted he wasn't talking to her. He was talking to Master Windu and she was taking roll of quiet, and obedient padawan. Even though technically she wasn't under the jurisdiction of the Jedi Code, the council had still been keeping a close eye on her. She glanced over at Anakin, Ahsoka, Barris, and Tarkin walking past. She wanted to check in on Barriss, the elder padawan seemed very shaken by the bombing, and if Barriss was still shaken then she probably needed her friends by her side. Obi-Wan noticed Esinon's gaze lingering on her friends,

"Go be with your friends," he whispered, "I'll find you later," she nodded, bowing to the Masters quickly before sprinting down the hallway and meeting up with Anakin, Barriss, Ahsoka, and Tarkin.

"Calm down Ahsoka," Anakin said, as Esinon skidded to a halt. "Remember, revenge is not the Jedi way." Ahsoka crossed her arms, shifting her gaze to the floor.

"The evidence seems pretty clear Ahsoka." Barriss began, "nothing will ever change," Esinon glanced from Barris to Ahsoka.

"The Chancellor feels very strongly that the Jedi be removed from as many military matters as possible," Tarkin said, striding towards the elevator. "You yourselves said you were peacekeepers, not soldiers," he said, pointing an accusatory finger at the small band of Jedi. Esinon crossed her arms and glowered at him, technically she still outranked him.

'I really don't like him.' she thought to herself.

"I hope Chancellor Palpatine knows what he's doing," Ahsoka replied,

"I assure you, he rarely does anything without a strategy," Tarkin said smugly, the elevator dinged and Tarkin stepped inside.

"I have many things to attend to Master," Barriss said, turning back to Anakin, "Good day," she gave them a small bow before walking off. "Ahsoka, Esinon," both girls glanced at each other and then up at Anakin,

"Go you two," they both nodded before sprinting off to meet up with Barris.

"Company?" Ahsoka asked,

"Sure," Barriss replied, they were all silent for a moment when Ahsoka spoke up again.

"Every time I think about this, I'm conflicted. It's hard not to let feelings turn into attachments and pain," she replied,

"Ahsoka… have you ever wondered if it's right to ignore your emotions?" Barriss asked, Esinon's fingers clasped around the sleeves of her robes a little more tightly. She knew it was wrong, that's why she was a gray Jedi… or she just had more emotions than everyone else. It'd been quite the process to try and balance her new code and keep the council happy.

"My Master would say…" Ahsoka began slowly, "Our struggle as Jedi is to move past them,"

"You make it sound so easy," Barriss replied, Ahsoka chuckled weakly,

"No, it isn't easy, but it's possible," Esinon knew it was possible, she just preferred not to do it, bottling up emotions had been part of the reason that had led to her having her dangerous Sith outburst before she'd learned how to control her powers. "It's like when we stuck in the battle tank on Geonosis," Ahsoka said, speeding up her pace to get in front of Barriss. "It was hard not to be afraid. Still, you and I got past it, and I guess we'll get past this too."

"You had every right to be afraid," Esinon blurted suddenly, stopping both girls in their tracks. The young gray Jedi stared at her feet, "Never mind,"

"But you're not afraid of dying," Ahsoka replied, Esinon glanced up at her,

"It's because I've already done it," she replied, "And… emotional rules are different in the gray Jedi code," she mumbled,

"Different how?" Barriss asked, Esinon glanced around, hoping there would be no Masters nearby. She didn't often talk openly about being a gray Jedi, some Jedi probably didn't even know she was a gray Jedi.

"Well, the gray Jedi believe that there is a push and pull to life at all times. We believe that letting ourselves feel things is healthy, and emotional release in the way non- Jedi cope with things helps keep our powers in check."

"Are you sure the gray Jedi are even real?" Barriss asked, Esinon glanced down at her feet before looking back up.

"Yes." She didn't need to explain her reasoning to Barriss or anyone else, she knew who was. Before Barrriss could ask any further questions, Ahsoka's comlink beeped.

"Yes Master?" she asked,

"Ahsoka, we're needed in the war room. It looks like the Separatists have mounted another attack." Anakin said, Ahsoka's eyes went wide,

"Coming Master!" she said, starting to sprint towards the war room, she skidded to halt and hurriedly made her way back to Barris, "look, I have to believe one way or another this woman is going to pay for what she did." There was that Skywalker aggressiveness that Esinon knew so well,

"You shouldn't keep your Master waiting," Barriss said, Ahsoka nodded before sprinting off.

"I probably need to find my Master for some training, but I'll leave my com on if you want to call and talk."

* * *

_THWACK_

"Are you sure the gray Jedi are real?" Esinon asked in a mocking tone, throwing another knife at the bullseye, "Are you just making it up?" she asked, throwing another knife harder. "No Barris, it's not like I went on an adventure with a crazy old lady who seems like she's a thousand years old and doesn't even call by my correct name and had all these weird visions and then was told I was a gray Jedi. You're just stupid," she threw a knife extra hard, piercing straight through the wall.

"You're gonna get in trouble for that," Fives said, Esinon glanced at him before scoffing and grabbing her, throwing knives out of the target… and the wall. "Something wrong Taz?"

"Fine," she grunted, hurling another knife into the target.

"Because you're throwing those knives pretty hard,'

"Uh-huh,"

"So are you gonna tell me or continue to damage this training room?" he asked, Esinon shot him a well-placed glare while simultaneously nailing a knife into the target. Fives shot her a grin walking over and pulling the knife out of the target. "So what's all this grumbling about crazy ladies and Commander Offee?"

"I dunno," she said, snatching the knife out of Fives hand and continuing her target practice. "Barris was asking Ahsoka if she thought it was wrong that the Jedi make people ignore their emotions. Then Ahsoka brought up the whole thing with the tank on Geonosis and I said they had every right to be scared and then I started talking some about what the gray Jedi code and then Barriss was all like 'well are you sure that's even a real thing.'"

"I thought you didn't care about what other people thought about you being a gray Jedi. That you were taking 'personal freedom'."

"She just denied who I am, Fives. I've spent three years trying to suppress these powers and now I finally know who I am and she asks if it's a real thing."

"Well, I think it's a valid question. Didn't you say the gray Jedi are basically extinct?" he asked, Esinon gave a huff,

"Lookin' for some sympathy here Fives,"

"I'm just saying, besides, you were rattled by the temple bombing, Commander Offee probably was too." Esinon sighed,

"I know, she did look really upset at the funeral ceremony,"

"There you go, she probably didn't mean to offend you. Commander Offee doesn't really seem like the type, she's never had a problem with the fact that you're a gray Jedi before, I'm sure she meant no harm. Now will you stop throwing the knives so hard?" Esinon chuckled,

"Sure," she was lining up another shot, but stopped short when her comlink buzzed, "Windcaster,"

"Esinon, get the Republic prison now," Anakin said, there was wind whipping in the background.

"What?" she asked, confused by the outburst.

"Esinon, please, just hurry. I'll fill you in when you get there, it's Ahsoka. She's in trouble." Esinon didn't skip a beat, in a burst of speed, she was at the prison.

"What's going on?" she demanded to the first guard she spotted as alarms blared loudly in her ears,

"Commander Tano, she killed the prisoner."

"What?" Esinon croaked, her stomach doing somersaults and her throat going dry.

"The prisoner, Letta Turmond, Commander Tano killed her. She's escaped," and without another word to Esinon, the trooper darted off. Esinon steeled herself over and immediately hacked her way into the Coruscant Guard com channel,

"Suspect is heading east, down corridor B," a troopers voice said over the com, Esinon sprinted down the corridor, at superspeed blowing past different Coruscant guard members. She finally skidded to a halt in corridor B, where there was no sign of her Togruta friend.

"Suspect is down on corridor E! West hall!" a trooper shouted into the com, Esinon once again took off and spotted Ahsoka. The Togruta caught her gaze with fearful eyes,

"Ahsoka wait!" Esinon shouted when she took off, Esinon sprinted after the Togruta, but with her speed, she didn't see Ahsoka had jumped up into the rafters. The downside of speed, you often miss things. Her com chimed again,

"Esinon, get down to corridor C," Anakin's voice said,

"Coming," In a burst of speed she had arrived next to Anakin and Rex who were sprinting towards Commander Fox.

"If you see the suspect, shoot to kill," he said, Esinon almost tripped at what Fox had just done. He was going to kill Ahsoka!

"Delay that order, Commander Fox!" Anakin shouted as they skidded to a halt. Esinon's eyes went wide at the sight in front of her, three dead Coruscant guard members with lightsaber slashes marring their bodies.

"She's killed troopers!" Fox exclaimed in rage, Esinon had only seen him that angry a few times, and it normally had something to do with his brothers.

"I know Commander Tano, she would never do something like this," Rex argued, Esinon backed up a bit as she was at the moment sandwiched between Rex and Fox.

"Then who did?" Fox demanded,

"Quiet," Anakin snapped, "Ahsoka!" he called, using the force to amplify his voice throughout the prison. "It's me Anakin. Stop running."

"You can't help me, Master!" Ahsoka replied, "Someone's setting me up!" Esinon believed her,

"I believe you Ahsoka!" Anakin called back,

"But no one else will," Esinon watched as Anakin lost hold on his bond with Ahsoka. He shook his head in frustration,

"Keep searching until we find her," he said, "Rex, call security, tell them we need to search the entire base, now! Esinon-"

"I'm already on it," She replied, taking off at superspeed and beginning her systematic search of the base. After she wasn't able to find Ahsoka inside the base, she moved outside, thunder and lightning cracked above as Esinon finally slowed down slightly. Coruscant Guard members were moving in squads still searching for Ahsoka. Esinon shifted her gaze along the statues of clone troopers, and then the Geonosis memorial.

"There she is!" Fox shouted, spotting Ahsoka perched on top of a clone statue's helmet. "Quick! Stop her before she gets to the ship!" Ahsoka leapt up into the air and landed on the Geonosis monument, sprinting along the top. Esinon took off, chasing after her Togruta friend, lacking the current focus to go at top speed. The only thing on her mind was Ahsoka. A squad of clones began to open fire on the Togruta, and although Ahsoka did nothing to defend herself Esinon was not about to let her friend be killed. She used the force to leap up onto the Geonosis monument, and drew her lightsaber, the green blades twirling and deflecting the bolts.

"Commander, move!" Commander Burn shouted, as the stream of blasts dissipated, Ahsoka attempted to get up and run, but Esinon grabbed her with the force.

"Ahsoka, no," she said,

"Commander! We will detain you as well!" Burn shouted, half the blasters turning on her. Rain started to pour on Esinon's head, sizzling against her igniting blades, casting shadows of emerald light across her face.

"We're taking her alive!" Esinon said, the flickering light giving her face a terrifying effect,

"Commander, this is your final warning," Burn said, his blaster clicking,

"I am your commanding officer," she snarled, "And you will DO AS I SAY. STAND DOWN NOW COMMANDER." A stun blast hit her in the chest and Esinon stumbled back, losing her grip on Ahsoka. In a flash the Togruta ran off, another stun blast hit Esinon and she collapsed to the ground.

"Stay down Commander," Burn ordered, Esinon groaned trying to shake herself from the sluggish stupor that the stun blasts had put her in. She was gonna get Burn for that, she could hear more blaster fire and people yelling.

She had to get to Ahsoka before the guard did, forcing herself up Esinon took off running again and jumped up into the air rolling onto the ground and using her super-speed to sprint past the guard and after Ahsoka who was dodging blaster fire from a cannon while trying to get to a ship.

The cannon got to the ship before Ahsoka did, but the force of the exploding ship sent the Togruta to the ground. Seeing the guard was getting closer, she scrambled to her feet and started sprinting towards the industrial pipeline. Esinon shook her head, picking up the pace,

"Ahsoka stop!" she shouted, the Togruta didn't listen and started to run faster. Esinon skidded to a halt as Ahsoka jumped down to a lower level of the catwalks. The guard began firing stun blasts, Anakin must have gotten them to take off the order to kill. Ahsoka finally drew her saber to defend against the stun blasts, dissipating multiple. Searchlights started to shine down overhead, as gunships got involved. Esinon leapt up over a catwalk onto the level that Ahsoka was on,

"Esinon, don't try to stop me," Ahsoka said, as their lightsabers sizzled in the rain,

"Ahsoka, I believe you, but this isn't helping! She said, she could hear the shouts of the guards getting closer. "You need to come back to the temple,"

"I can't- I have to clear my name- just please, help me get out of here," Ahsoka pleaded, Esinon glanced around, spotting a large pipeline.

"There, come on," she said, and both girls used the force to leap up and over some fuel tanks and keep sprinting down towards the pipeline. Gunships were gaining fast, and Esinon knew she was going to get in trouble for helping Ahsoka escape. Rain pounded above, making it hard to see, and to keep traction on the slippery catwalks. A gunship pulled up next to the girls as they sprinted through the rain, the door slid open and Coruscant Guard members released a barrage of stun blasts which the two Jedi easily deflected.

Esinon could hear another gunship closing in, she grit her teeth and ran faster, deflecting blasts back towards the guard members hoping to catch a break for Ahsoka to gain some ground on the guard. Esinon gasped as she saw a guard pull out a rocket launcher, she didn't warn Ahsoka, she just used the force to shove the Togruta forward as the blast threw Esinon off of the catwalk, leaving her hanging by her fingertips.

"Esinon!" Ahsoka cried,

"Go!" She shouted, "I'll catch up!" Ahsoka nodded, grabbing her sabers and sprinting off. With a burst of the force, Esinon heaved herself up, pulling herself over the catwalk, and immediately began running after Ahsoka.

She used the force to vault herself over some more fueling tanks onto a platform that was leading to four sets of stairs where she could see Ahsoka getting backed down by another gunship.

More and more gunships pulled up and surrounded Ahsoka from all sides along with almost the entire Coruscant Guard. Esinon spotted Anakin, Rex, and Fox sprint up next. Ahsoka stared up at her Master, refusing to let him see the fear in her eyes. Esinon started scanning the edge, trying to find an escape. She finally spotted an opening, "Ahsoka!" she motioned to the large pipeline and the Togruta jumped, quickly cutting a hole for herself and jumping down into the pipe. Esinon used her speed, getting there faster than everyone else. "Come one, these pipes lead out to the lower levels," Esinon said, as the two of them sprinted through the filthy water.

"Split up," Ahsoka said, and Esinon veered off to the right while Ahsoka went to the left. Esinon knew now that the guard was hunting her as well, she could be arrested for aiding in escape.

Correction, she was going to be arrested, she could hear guards' footsteps pounding after her and see the flickering of flashlights on blasters. She skidded around a corner, trying to center in on Ahsoka's force signature.

She finally landed on the familiar signature and sprinted toward it, after a few more seconds of water splashing around her feet she rammed into Ahsoka with a tight hug.

"Are you ok?" she murmured,

"Not injured if that's what you're asking," Ahsoka replied, they pulled apart,

"I'll try and draw the guard away so you can get out,"

"Esinon, they're going to arrest you," she said, grabbing Esinon's hand, "Come with me, we'll be able to figure this out together,"

"I think I'll be more help to you at the temple," she replied,

"Esinon, they are going to arrest,"

"I'm going to let them, while they're busy with me arresting me, get out of here Ahsoka," Esinon grabbed her friend's shoulders, "Do you understand me?" Ahsoka nodded, "alright, just… I contact you as soon as I can, and if worst comes to worst I'll come to find you, after all, I am the fastest woman alive," Ahsoka gave a strained chuckle, both girls glanced up at the sound of voices.

"Just please stay safe," Ahsoka whispered, Esinon pressed her forehead against Ahsoka's,

"I promise, we're gonna figure this out,"

"Thank you for believing in me,"

"Always Soka, always," And with that, the two went off in separate directions. Esinon, to distract the guard, and Ahsoka to clear her name.

* * *

Esinon held up her hands in surrender as she walked around a corner, she squinted as the guards' lights shined in her eyes. She could hear handcuffs being unclipped as a guard member came forward.

"Commander Esinon Windcaster, you are under arrest for aiding in escape," he said, as her arms were cuffed behind her back and a lightsaber was taken from her belt.

"Take good care of that," she said, with a small smirk on her face. "I want that back when I get out of prison," A guard member glared at her, a glare that was reserved for prisoners. _'So that's how it is, well, I didn't really think this through- because Obi-Wan's off-world. He can't exactly bail me out, but Anakin can. I'll be fine.' _She didn't know where Anakin and Rex had gone, as she was escorted into a gunship where Fox was standing, behind him was Burn.

"This is a fine mess you've gotten yourself into this time," Burn said, crossing his arms over her chest. Esinon didn't say anything, she could see the way the guard had been looking at her, but she didn't care. They had tried to kill Ahsoka.

The ride back to the Republic prison was silent, she was led back down the hall between four guards, with Burn in front of her and Fox right behind her. She could see Tarkin between the white and red armored soldiers, the front two guards parted so she could stare at Tarkin.

"Commander Windcaster," he greeted, Tarkin passed a force suppression collar to a trooper on his left. And Esinon finally moved, her mind flashing back to images of Zygerrians, whips, and pain.

She bumped into Fox as the guard attempted to put the collar around her neck. She felt Fox grab onto her arms holding her still as the collar was placed around her neck. She felt a low level pulse of electricity course through her body, indicating that the collar was on. Fox saw the panic in her eyes increase, but Esinon had yet to make a noise.

She was silent as they walked down the hallway to her holding cell, they removed her cuffs for a moment before re-cuffing her wrists in front of her body. She was silent when the rey shield closed behind her. The guard didn't remove her force suppression collar, even though there were dampers in her cell.

"I must be really scary huh," she said softly, staring at Fox who was still on the other side of the rey shield. He didn't say anything, he just walked away. Esinon sat down on the edge of the metal slab against the wall that would serve as a bed for her if she was left here for the night. She sighed, running her fingers through her hair and backing up into the corner of the room. She just hoped Ahsoka was alright.

* * *

"Speeds?" Esinon glanced up to see Anakin standing on the other side of the rey shield.

"Hey," she mumbled, there were two Coruscant guard members standing with the Jedi. Esinon had only become more miserable after hours of sitting in the cell with a collar on. It reminded her too much of when she'd been alone on Zygerria, a similar collar around her neck. She associated this cell, and the collar with pain. Excruciating pain.

"Open the shield," Anakin commanded, the guards obeyed and the shield fell, yet Esinon didn't move from her safe spot in the corner. Anakin entered the cell,

"Esinon, why didn't you stop her?" he asked,

"Because I know that none of them will believe her," she said quietly, "They tried to kill her Anakin, rocket launchers, blasters, they would have killed Ahsoka if given the chance." Anakin didn't say anything for a moment,

"Getting arrested wasn't the smartest plan, now the council is mad at you too," he said, trying to deflect the fact that his padawan was gone.

"Good, now they have a valid excuse to leave me in here," she grumbled bitterly, Anakin winced knowing that the council had made the decision to leave Esinon in the prison to think about her actions. "That's what you came to tell me right?" Anakin nodded, Esinon scoffed, trying to wedge a finger underneath her thick collar to scratch her neck. She muttered a few curses under her breath as she managed to minimally scratch her neck. "I must really terrify everyone, the council doesn't want me. The Coruscant Guards are staring at me like I'm a hungry gundark, being a gray Jedi is just great." Anakin sighed, sitting down on the edge of the metal 'bed'.

"Are you ok?" he asked,

"No." she replied, "Fox won't even look at me, so that's great. I just want people to stop looking at me like I'm about to kill them. I haven't changed-"

"You have Esinon," Anakin said suddenly, glancing up at the young padawan. "And I don't think it's a bad thing, you're a different person than you were at the start of the war and it isn't just because you're a gray Jedi. You've grown, you're almost eighteen and you're finally figuring out what it means to be your own person. Make your own decisions, people will adjust to who you are now. Don't change, you seem happier as a gray Jedi." Esinon glanced up from the metal slab,

"It's... hard. Having the Jedi give me side-eye, younglings crossing to the other side of the hallway when they see me. I've been… acting out, hoping to get more attention. I want to go back to normal, but I don't. I know this is who I'm meant to be, and the Jedi want to keep me around but make me feel ashamed for being this."

"I think we both know the council misses having the picture-perfect padawan, but I say 'kriff the council'." Esinon's head snapped up, it's a thought she had almost daily but she'd never heard anyone say it out loud. Anakin grinned, "I'll see what I can do about the collar Speeds, they shouldn't have put it on you in the first place."

"Thank you Anakin," he ruffled her hair as she got up.

"Of course, now I've gotta get back to the temple. Emergency council meeting, oh- and Esinon,"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for believing in Ahsoka," she nodded as the rey shield closed behind him.

* * *

**I'M NOT LATE! I almost forgot lol **

**Anywho, it's been a rough week homies but- it's not done I have a tennis invite tomorrow. I'm so tired. **

**Anyways, I started watching ATLA and that show is amazing. Where has it been all my life? (Also Aang is me and I relate to him on a personal level) **

**Here's a longer chapter because I've been writing like a machine **

**Also eagle eyes98, I started writing what we've been waiting for ;) **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: Esinon gets to live happily with Korkie. How about that? like let the woman rest**

**Thank you all for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	53. Betrayal and New Beginnings

**The next day…**

Esinon was happy to be back in the temple, even if people were still giving her dirty looks. She was trying not to care. Currently, she was huddled in her room on a datapad trying to find out any information on Letta Turmond, Jakar, or safe places in the Coruscant underworld Ahsoka could go to incase she caught some heat. She heard a knock at her door,

"It's open!" she called, the door slid open to reveal Barriss,

"Esinon," she greeted, Esinon stared up at the mirialan padawan for a moment,

"Hey Barriss," she said softly, she sat down next to Esinon.

"I assume you've been doing some digging," Esinon nodded,

"There's not anything suspicious about Jakar, I actually worked with him a couple of times. He was a very nice man and Letta. I never really heard about her until now, Jakar was a private man."

"Are you saying you think someone else bombed the temple?"

"I don't know what to think anymore," Esinon said with a sigh, "And I want to find out who set Ahsoka up, but I haven't been able to hack into the Republic Prison security net, but I haven't been able to get past the firewall thus far."

"Well, it was built so even the best hackers couldn't get into it,"

"I'll figure it out," Esinon assured her, suddenly Esinon's comlink beeped.

"Esinon, it's Ahsoka," the Togruta said from the other end of the com,

"Ahsoka!" Esinon exclaimed, "I'm so glad you're ok! Barriss is with me,"

"It's a relief to hear you are safe Ahsoka," Barris said as the two girls huddled over the comlink.

"Safe, but on the run," she replied,

"Where?" Barriss asked,

"I can't tell you," Ahsoka said, "but someone is definitely trying to frame me,"

"It's not safe for you to call us with the Jedi communicator," Esinon said suddenly, "You have to find a different way to contact us, your comlink is too easily tracked."

"I'll find something else," Ahsoka promised,

"In the meantime, I'll keep digging," Esinon said, "I'm bound to come across something sooner or later,"

"Thank you Esinon," Ahsoka breathed, her voice quivering with relief,

"Be safe," Barris said, and with that the com call ended, leaving Esinon to her anxious thoughts.

**Six hours later...**

Esinon let out a low growl as her fingers flew across her keyboard, the screen flickered in her room as she rapidly wrote out code trying to stay ahead of the Coruscant guard firewall patching it. Her comlink beeped and she ignored it, her comlink beeped again. This time she answered the hailing when she recognized Fives's frequency,

"This better be important Fives," she snapped, letting out a grunt of discontent as she began to code more rapidly.

"Geez Taz, no need to get so angry," he said, Esinon rolled her eyes and let out a string of curses when she tried to launch the program and it failed again. She shoved the laptop out of her lap and it clattered to the ground. Her knees pulled up to her chest as she raked her fingers through her hair, tears of exhaustion, and stress brimming to her eyes. "Esinon? Esinon can you please turn on the projection capabilities?" She flicked the switch and placed the comlink on her knees. "What's wrong?"

"I can't hack into the Republic prison security net," she mumbled,

"Why in the galaxy would you be trying to do that?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Esinon lifted her head slightly, Fives didn't know about everything that had happened with Ahsoka yet. "Esinon?"

"Ok, I'll tell you, but- are you alone?" he nodded, "Alright, but this is secret right now, Ahsoka… has been framed for killing Letta Turmond and five clone guards." his face dropped,

"Do you know who yet?"

"No, but I was able to help her escape and got arrested in the process," she said,

"Esinon," he grumbled,

"Look, they almost killed Ahsoka and I know she didn't do those things. She's in the underworld right now, and I'm trying to find some evidence that would point towards someone else and not her."

"And that's why you're trying to hack the security footage?" she nodded, the door to Esinon's room whooshed open.

"Esinon!" Barriss exclaimed, Esinon jumped and hurriedly ended the com call. "I found a clue!"

"What is it? Did you tell Ashoka yet?"

"Yes, we just talked, she's on level 1312, but she's heading up to 1315."

"Where did you send her?" Esinon asked, "And what is the clue?"

"An abandoned warehouse where they used to build munitions that Letta visited during the time she was getting access to the nano-droids," Barriss explained, Esinon frowned,

"How did you find that out?" she asked, "I thought I was pretty thorough in my research,"

"You must have missed it," Barriss said, with a dismissive shrug of her shoulders. "You have focused on the firewall, after all, it doesn't matter anymore I guess." Esinon stared at her feet for a moment,

"Great work Barriss," she said, with a small smile. Frustrated with herself, that she didn't catch onto such a crucial piece of information in her research. Barriss's comlink beeped,

"It's my Master, I have to go," Esinon nodded and Barris exited. Esinon let out a harsh breath, if Obi-Wan were still on a world he would have told her to get some sleep. She hadn't slept a wink last night, and she felt she owed it to Ahsoka to keep working on finding more clues. So work she did, she needed to bring her best friend home.

**Ten hours later…**

Ahsoka had been captured and returned to the temple, Esinon felt like a failure once again because she had failed to deliver any further clues to Ahsoka on who might be behind the framing. But she couldn't, she didn't. And the odds weren't looking good for Ahsoka. Esinon was currently pacing the floor of her apartment, clutching the crystal around her neck as she waited for anyone to come back. Ahsoka was in a holding cell so she wasn't coming back anytime soon, Anakin was most likely with Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan was in a council meeting, where they were deciding what to do with Ahsoka next. Esinon let out a growl of anxious frustration as she increased her pacing, the pit in stomach-settling lower. She felt a nudge at her bond with Obi-Wan,

'_Master?' _she asked frantically,

'_Esinon, are you alright? You feel like you're on the verge of an anxiety attack.' _he replied,

'_What's going to happen to Ahsoka?' _the bond went silent for a moment, '_Master?' _

'_I'm headed to the chamber of judgment at the moment, we'll talk about this after that.' _he said, Esinon's heart skipped a beat. Going to the chamber of judgment never ended well.

'_Master, Master?' _he didn't answer, all she got was a deadline. They were going to kick Ahsoka out of the order. Esinon sunk to the floor, this couldn't be happening. She raked her fingers through her hair, hoping and praying that she would wake up and this would all be some twisted nightmare.

**Four hours later…**

Esinon couldn't even look at her Master or any of the other Jedi council members that were sitting in the chairs in front of her. They had abandoned Ahsoka.

They had _abandoned _her.

She was disgusted and wanted to punch every single one of them, but she was restraining herself as she stood in the Supreme Courtroom. The door to the room opened and Ahsoka walked in, with cuffs around her wrists and two Coruscant guards following after her. She came to stand on a platform in the middle of the platform. Mas Amedda banged his staff on the ground a couple of times signaling the room to quiet and it went dead silent. On the right, Padme entered the room, acting as a defense attorney, and on the left was Tarkin who was acting as prosecutor.

"Ahsoka Tano," Chancellor Palpatine began, "You have been charged with sedition against the Jedi Order and the Republic itself. The court will decide your fate. The prosecution, you may begin your arguments," Tarkin walked forward onto his platform that was directly across from Ahsoka.

"Former Padawan Tano," he said, and Esinon let a small growl escape her lips. She felt Xavier grab her hand in an attempt to calm her, it didn't work. Esinon could still feel the rage building. "I shall prove that you were the mastermind behind the attack on the Jedi temple and that once your accomplices carried out your orders, you eliminated them one by one. When you are found guilty, I ask the court that the full extent of the law be brought down upon you." Esinon stiffened from her slouch position against the wall. "Including penalty of death,"

It felt like she couldn't breathe.

Ahsoka was going to die.

* * *

"Look at the facts," Padme said, in her perfectly even voice. Not even batting an eye towards Tarkin, she was the picture of elegance and grace. Ahsoka on the other hand looked like she was about to pass out. "Letta Turmond called Ahsoka to her cell to reveal who the real mastermind behind the bombing of the Jedi temple was. Letta told Ahsoka she was afraid. She told her the Mastermind was a Jedi, and before she could reveal the Jedi's name, Letta Turmond was strangled to death by the force. Why would Ahsoka kill Letta with a method that would obviously tie her to the murder? A Jedi may be responsible for the murder, but that Jedi is not Ahsoka Tano. Members of the court, you are prosecuting the wrong Jedi." A slow and repetitive clap began from Padme's left, as Tarkin walked forward, chuckling lightly. Esinon at that moment wanted to kill him.

"Well said, Senator Amidala," he said with a cruel smirk on his face. "However, if she is innocent, then why was she seen conspiring with known Separatist terrorist, Asajj Ventress?"

"Ventress set me up," Ahsoka said, "My Master will prove it,"

"And where is your Master?" Tarkin asked, Esinon glanced around noticing that Anakin had yet to make an appearance."

"He's trying to find the real murderer!" Ahsoka exclaimed, failing to keep her composure.

"Then maybe he should be looking at you," Tarkin said,

* * *

"The court has reached a decision," a Senate member said as he stood up, the data card was delivered over to Mas Amedda who handed it to Palpatine. Esinon tried to read the Chancellor's emotions or face, but she was able to do neither.

"Ahsoka Tano," Palpatine began, "by an overwhelming count of-" the doors to the Supreme courtroom burst open to Anakin and four temple guards.

"Chancellor!" Anakin called, he walked into the room with the guards, and between them, she could see… Barriss? What in the name of the force was Barriss doing there?

"I hope you have a good reason for bursting into our proceedings, Master Skywalker," Palpatine said in his sickeningly sweet voice.

"I'm here with evidence and a confession from the person responsible for all of the crimes that Ahsoka has been accused of." Esinon felt Xavier's grip on her hand tighten, "Barriss Offee! Member of the Jedi Order, and a traitor." the Mirialan padawan stepped forward, a murmur rippled through the room.

"Barriss," Ahsoka said, trying to keep her voice from wavering, "Is that true?"

"Tell them the truth," Anakin growled, Barriss stared at her feet for a moment before stepping forward.

"I did it." She said, "I did it because I've come to realize what many people in the Republic have come to realize. That the Jedi are responsible for this war, that we've lost our way, that we have become the villains in this conflict! That we are the ones who should be put on trial. All of us! And my attack on the temple was an attack on what the Jedi have become, an army fighting for the dark side. Fallen so far from the light we once held so dear. This Republic is failing! It's only a matter of time." Anakin grabbed Barriss's arm pulling her back so she could no longer continue her speech.

"Take her away," Palpatine ordered, Barriss glanced up at Esinon and Xavier who were both staring at her with betrayal and hate in their eyes. And with that, she was led away by the temple guards. Not knowing this would be the last time she would ever see her friends. Esinon let out a small breath of relief, Ahsoka's name had been cleared.

But at the gain of Ahsoka, she had lost Barriss.

Right now Esinon didn't care, Barris had betrayed her, Xavier, Ahsoka.

The entire Jedi Order.

Esinon hated her and thought she deserved everything that was coming to her.

* * *

Esinon sat on the couch, bouncing her knee as she anxiously awaited Ahsoka, Anakin, and Obi-Wan's return. They were going to invite Ahsoka back to the order, and life was going to go back to a semblance of normal. She let herself have a small smile as she slouched back on the couch. All she wanted to do was fall asleep while Ahsoka watched Guys and Dolls for the thousandth, two days without any sleep and Esinon was ready to drop. She let out a small sigh, everything was going to be ok now. She stiffened as her mind warped into a memory,

_Ahsoka walked down the steps of the temple as Anakin watched her, heartbroken. One resounding sentence hung in the air, echoing in Esinon's ears._

'_I need to figure this out on my own, without the council… and without you.' _

Esinon snapped back to reality,

"No," she whispered, "No, no, no, no," she jumped up from the couch and sprinted to the front of the temple at superspeed. Anakin was already gone, and so was Ahsoka. "Ahsoka!" Esinon shouted, starting to run down the stairs in search of her friend. "Ahsoka! Ahsoka!"

There was no answer.

Ahsoka was gone. Esinon sunk to her knees, her hands trembling and tears starting to spring to her eyes.

Ahsoka had left.

Ahsoka had left.

_A__hsoka had left. _Tears of disbelief began to escape her eyes as Esinon tried to make sense of everything that was happening. This couldn't be happening! This wasn't supposed to happen, Ahsoka was the picture-perfect padawan. The perfect Commander, leader, teacher, she was supposed to be the next Hero with no fear. What was she supposed to do without her? A small sob escaped her lips as tears dripped down onto her robes, she had just lost everything. Ahsoka was everything. Esinon sat in silence for a few more moments when she felt Barriss's force signature go out.

Barris was dead.

And that's when it happened, Esinon screamed. It was shrill and deafening, full of grief and agony. She had lost Ahsoka, Barriss was dead. Two of her closest friends were gone and there was _nothing _she could do about it. Esinon could only sit on the stairs of the temple, drowning in grief and guilt.

**Three months later…**

She never saw Anakin anymore.

He was always working or training. Constantly asking to be deployed, she wondered if he slept anymore. She doubted it. Obi-Wan was quieter than ever, no witty remarks, no banter, just silence. She could feel his guilt, even though he tried to keep up a wall around his emotions. Esinon and Obi-Wan's bond was just too strong for them not to feel everything in each other's minds. Esinon didn't do much of anything anymore, she sat in her room leaving only for class or food, instead, she watched the same musical over and over and over again while she studied.

"_Really Ahsoka? Guys and Dolls again?" Esinon asked, finding her Togruta friend curled up on the couch with a cup of tea in her hands. Ahsoka grinned at her, _

"_What? This is my favorite musical, you've watched the Princess Bride almost as many times." _

"_Very true," Esinon said, vaulting over the couch and landed on the cushions. Ahsoka glared at her after her tea almost spilled everywhere. After that, both of them were quiet and watched the characters dance across the screen. _

Her Jedi knighting was in two days, it had been almost two months since her eighteenth birthday. Esinon knew she was only getting knighted because they couldn't knight Ahsoka, and they couldn't knight Barris. Esinon wondered whose fault that was because the Council wasn't happy about it but they were responsible for it. She suspected that the Council was knighting her because a clone legion was in need of a General, or the war needed another legion. She was about to become the youngest knight ever. She heard a knock at her door,

"It's open!" she called, flipped through another page of her textbook. The door to her room slid open and Obi-Wan was standing in the door holding a paper bag with Dex's logo on the front.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, she nodded as he sat down on the edge of her bed and passed her the warm and greasy bag of food. "Studying for your test?" she nodded,

"Yeah, just needed to review a few terms but I'm almost done," Obi-Wan gave a nod of approval.

"Good work padawan mine, I'm very proud of you," he said, she smiled up at him as he got up and exited the room. She sighed as the door closed and pushed her textbooks away from her and turned her full attention to the musical on the small holo cam she'd set up in her room.

"_What time is it?" Ahsoka yawned, Esinon glanced at the Chrono. _

"_Almost midnight," she replied, stealing a fry off of Ahsoka's bag. _

"_Hey! I was gonna eat that," Ahsoka said with a huff as Esinon stuffed the fry into her mouth. _

"_You gotta be quicker than," she replied with a smug grin. _

"_You're the fastest woman alive, I can't be faster than you," the togruta crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her Scipian friend. _

"_Your loss then," _

Esinon let out a deep sigh, she wondered what her men would be like. Would she know any of them? Would she get all shinies? She wasn't ready for this big of a change. She wasn't ready to be a General, she wasn't ready to leave her Master, she wasn't ready to lead her own men… she wasn't ready to live without Ahsoka.

**One day later…**

Two pairs of green-tipped boots walked down the halls of_ the Tranquility_ towards Commander Gree's office. He didn't want to be transferred, life in the 41st elite corps was fine. Well… until they had received news that they're Commander wasn't coming back. General Unduli had been colder and stricter than ever, and life seemed to have lost all of its light without Commander Offee around. Dej let out a harsh breath, finally tuning back into what Glitch was saying.

"I don't know why they'd even want to transfer us," Glitch huffed, a piece of lime green hair flopping down into his eyes. Glitch gave a breath of annoyance, trying and failing to blow the piece of hair out of his face.

"Maybe a legion needs troopers." Dej suggested, "Veterans like us to help out with the shinies,"

"Well I like being in the 41st and I don't want to leave." Glitch had made plenty of friends in the 41st, unlike Dej who was more the strong and silent type. Besides, any of the friends he had made here were all dead. But he was glad that Glitch was being transferred with him, Glitch was the only batchmate who he knew where he was. He and his batchmates had been separated at the beginning of the war.

"I thought you didn't have enough 'freedom' here," Dej teased, Glitch glared at him,

"That doesn't mean I don't like it here,"

"Look at it this way, I'm sure we can come back and visit when we're on leave. And, maybe our new General will be less strict than General Unduli, and you can do more stuff you want. In coordination with the manuals of course," Glitch cocked his head, grinning at his brother.

"You know I don't follow reg manuals like you do, and you know that." Dej sighed,

"But you really should," Glitch shrugged,

"I might die tomorrow so I might as well live it up now," he said with a grin, Dej rolled his eyes, ruffling his brother's hair. The two of them finally arrived at Commander Gree's office door, Dej straightened up and made sure his helmet was securely tucked under his arm. Glitch pushed back his hair into a somewhat neat manner as Dej knocked at the door.

"Enter!" Commander Gree called from the other side of the door, the door slid open and the two troopers entered, saluting their Commander. Commander Gree looked as busy as ever, with flimsy scattered across his desk. He began fishing through a couple of files, and then pulled open a drawer, grabbing a datapad out. He quickly signed something at the bottom. "Alright boys, you have been officially transferred to the 221st, under General Esinon Windcaster. Well, she isn't a General quite yet, she's being knighted tomorrow." he explained, "She's a good kid, tough fighter, resilient little thing," he murmured, more to himself than anything. Dej forced himself to keep from frowning, he remembered that name from somewhere. He quickly dismissed the thought, probably just a Jedi Commander he had briefly worked with. "Your transport for the surface leaves in a couple of hours, and you'll head to your new flagship the Duchess a day from now. The Jedi council wanted to send the legion up to orbit Coruscant for a little while so you could all adjust to one another before you get deployed." Glitch perked up for a moment at the idea of going down to the surface, unlike Dej, Glitch liked his time to go and socialize. "Understand?"

"Yes sir," they both replied,

"I'll miss you boys, stay safe, dismissed," Gree said, with a strong smile, both of them nodded, saluted, and left.

"Did you recognize that name?" Dej asked, Glitch nodded,

"Yeah, it's the 212th's Commander, you probably heard about her in the news or something. She's pretty famous," Dej frowned,

"I feel like I recognize her from something else," he murmured,

"It's probably nothing," Glitch replied, "Maybe you'll figure it out when you see her tomorrow." Dej nodded in agreement as they headed towards their barracks to pack up their things.

* * *

"Cam, pass me that socket plug will 'ya?" Spitfire said, holding a wire in place in his Z-6 with one hand and trying to reach the desired socket plug from the toolbox with his other. Cameron grabbed the socket plug, passing it to Spitfire all while never taking his eyes from his book. Spitfire screwed in the plug and removed his fingers, taking a moment to admire his handiwork.

"There, now it should fire with double the power," he said proudly, wiping his greasy fingers off on a rag. Cameron glanced up from his book,

"Commander Jet said you're not supposed to mess with the power on your Z-6 anymore, not after you blew up half the training droids."

"Ok, that was legendary, and Commander Jet is about to not be my superior anymore," he said, stuffing the rest of his personal tools into his toolbox.

"What do you mean?" Cameron asked,

"I'm being transferred, little brother," Spitfire said, pushing his bunk upward to collect the few belongings he had. "A new legion has been formed, new knight and everything." Cameron glanced down at his book for a moment. He knew that troopers were transferred all the time, he just never thought Spitfire would have to leave.

"You'll still come and visit right?" he asked,

"Of course vod'ika, I'll call you all time. Just because I'm moving legions doesn't mean I'm going to forget my best brother." Spitfire said, taking a knee in front of Cameron. He embraced his younger brother, savoring his last moments of familiarity before he would be shoved into a whole new world.

* * *

Jax gripped the strap of his bag as he looked up at the transport that would take him to his new legion. He sighed, he loved life in the 745th, he didn't do well with change.

The bloody skin around his fingernails could attest to that. He just felt so out of control, even as a Captain, everything was always out of his control and it was starting to stress him out. Correction, he was already stressed out.

His chest felt like it was gonna explode. He let out a long and slow deep breath just like his batchmates had taught him, before stepping onto the transport. He still wondered where his batchmates were, it was easier to assume they were dead but Jax never had. He'd always been a hopeful person and this was no different.

**Back at the Jedi temple…**

Xavier sighed, setting down a pile of cardboard boxes in front of Esinon's door. She hadn't come out of her room in a week unless it was to eat. He knew she was trying to avoid the inevitable, she had to move out when she was knighted. He knocked at Esinon's bedroom door, ready to help his best friend through moving to this next stage of her life.

"It's open!" Esinon called from the other side of the door. He pushed open the door, grabbing the boxes, and dropping them in the middle of the room. Esinon's room was surprisingly clean for her not moving from it, then again she'd be doing anything to keep herself distracted. She glanced from the stack of boxes to him, "What are these for?"

"All of your stuff. We've gotta get you ready to move tomorrow. I even found out from Master Plo that you're going to be moving in with the woman who took over the 673rd. Jayla Archer," Esinon sighed, glaring at the pile of boxes,

"I'll take care of it later, I have some more stuff I gotta get through," she said, turning her gaze back to her book. Xavier grabbed it off of her lap, holding it up.

"You realize that this is upside down right?" Esinon glared up at Xavier, who was now significantly taller than her. He had had a growth spurt and now stood at six feet, she tapped out at 5'1. She attempted to grab the book out of his hand but Xaiver held it above her head, Esinon used the force to jump onto his back and grab the book before crawling back into bed.

"I said I'll take care of it later," she growled, Xavier sighed,

"Come on Esinon, I know you don't feel like you're ready to be a knight, but you are. The council wouldn't be knighting you if you weren't ready,"

"Well until Ahsoka left they looked at me like a hungry gundark so I don't think they do think I'm ready." Esinon snapped, Xavier stared at her for a moment before sitting down on the bed next to her.

"I know, and I'm sorry," he said quietly, "I miss Ahsoka and Barris too," Esinon drew her knees up to her chest and let out a harsh breath.

"I'm not ready to be a General or a knight. I want to go back to being a youngling, life was simpler." she murmured,

"I know what you mean," he said. They had lost two of their best friends in under twenty-four hours. Three months later it still didn't feel real. Esinon dragged herself up from the bed and opened her closet. Xavier stood as well,

"I brought this one for stuff you want to bring with you, and this one for stuff you want to throw away," he said, unstacking the boxes and separating them accordingly. Esinon pulled a cloak out of her closet, folded it, and then placed it in the box to keep. They continued in silence. Once they had moved one from clothes, Esinon began pulling the hundreds or holos the covered her walls, she organized them in neat stacks, having the intention of bringing them all with her. She held one out to Xavier,

"Do you remember this?" she asked, Xavier glanced down at the photo, chuckling. It was a picture of Esinon and Ahsoka when they were twelve and fourteen, both in Ahsoka's old tube top get up. Esinon didn't look very happy, and Ahsoka looked like she was about to bust a rib from laughing so hard.

"Yeah, Yeah I do." he replied, "The rest of your robes were burnt up in an explosion, and unfortunately for you, only Ahsoka had extra robes."

"I was so cold," Esinon said with a giggle. She sighed, staring at the picture, her momentary happiness replaced with melancholy. She felt the bed dip next to her as Xavier sat down, the zabrak put an arm around her.

"That was a fun day," he murmured, Esinon tucked her head under his chin.

"We've really grown up," she said, "feels like only yesterday we were climbing around in the vents and dumping cans of paint on shinies." Xavier chuckled,

"Was that really the best thing we could come up with?"

"That glitter cannon I nailed Waxer with was pretty epic," she replied,

"How long did it take you to make that?"

"Couple weeks, with Zeer's help. I wasn't as mechanically minded as I am now,"

"Funny to look back on this kind of stuff now," Xavier said, Esinon sighed,

"Yeah, the future is weird."

* * *

**ESINON'S BECOMING A KNIGHT MY BABY IS ALL GROWN UP *cries in proud mama* **

**DEJ BELONGS TO EAGLE EYES98 AND I LOVE THAT CLONE MORE THAN ANYTHING **

**Yall it's been a long time coming but we're moving up (and movin' out) sorry :) I love Billy Joel**

**ANYWAY It's been a week and I just wanted to say all of the sweet reviews you all have left made me feel a lot better so thank you! **

**Also, if this still needs clarifying or you haven't figured out this yet, I have manipulated the timeline. Such as different battles being in different places, or the war being longer. So in the Windcaster timeline the clone wars are longer but I was doing so to get more character development. Esinon is a very different person than she was when she was twelve and honestly- I'm really proud of myself for how far I've gotten with this story and working so hard to develop my characters. And I'm so glad so many of yall have stuck with it! It means so much to know you guys care and like it! **

**And I have plenty of time to improve, I am still young! **

**Also I know this was like a sad chapter and I'm being all positive down here but that's because I'm ignoring how emotionally taxing writing this chapter was. Writers- or at least I- feel all the things my characters do- to some extent.  
**

**ANDDDDDDDD EAGLE EYES98 WE FREAKING MADE IT! YOU'VE BEEN PATIENTLY WAITING SINCE LIKE APRIL AND THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME WITH THIS STORY AND GIVING ME IDEAS AND YOUR WONDERFUL SON DEJ WHO I HAVE ABSOLUTLEY FALLEN IN LOVE WITH AND I'M SO EXCITED TO WRITE MORE OF I HAVE SO MANY SURPRISES IN STORE! **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: not only does Ahsoka love Guys and Dolls she also loves the Music Man and she knows every word of Ya got trouble, her favorite part is when she gets to go RaGtiMe SHAMELESS MUSIC!**

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	54. Turning Out

**The songs that go with this chapter are Cough Syrup (I listen to the glee version) and Turning out by AJR **

* * *

Esinon glanced around the small room that was the tranquility spire. It was minimalistic, with a meditation cushion, and a few pillows and blankets. She was going to be spending the next twenty-four hours here to discern her path as a Jedi. She took a deep breath, climbing onto the meditation cushion, and placing her hands in her lap. She closed her eyes and began her meditative exercises, falling into a deep trance.

* * *

"Adora!" a female voice called, "Adora!" Esinon watched as a dirty blond girl ran past her, dressed in Jedi robes and a padawan braid swaying on her head. "Wait up Adora!" Adora? Like Zonoma's Adora?

"You have to be faster than that Rio!" the blond girl called as she continued to sprint through the halls of the Jedi temple. Or at least Esinon thought it was the Jedi temple, it looked like the temple, just… different. There were more tapestries and everything was bathed in warm light, the atmosphere was so… joyful, relaxed. Nothing in the temple was relaxed anymore, not with funerals every other week, and worrying about the next debriefing. Esinon jumped out of the way as a Zygerrian girl came barreling past her, a silka braid clacking as she ran.

Esinon stared at the two girls for a moment, Zygerrians were rarely force sensitive anymore. Esinon was starting to wonder what time period she was having a vision of. The past, or the future? Esinon ran after the girls as they continued their game of chase through the temple, they finally skidded to a halt in front of a Master she didn't recognize, but judging by the stern expression on her face, she wasn't happy. She was a woman of about Obi-Wan's age, with her hair in such a tight knot that Esinon suspected she was so unhappy because her head hurt.

"Padawans, what have I said about your frivolous games?" Both girls were staring at their feet.

"To not to," Adora finally mumbled, the elder woman glared at her.

"That's right, you both have studies to attend to so I suggest you get to them now."

"Yes Master," the girls replied simultaneously as they bowed to the Master. The woman gave a curt nod before walking off, her tall boots clicking on the ground. Adora let out a small giggle as soon as the Master was out of earshot,

"Come on Rio, we can go play out in the gardens. Master Boro never goes out there, bad for her allergies or something." Adora said, Rio glanced up from her feet.

"I don't think we should Adora, besides, I have an evaluation tomorrow. I should really be studying for that," Rio replied, her ears drooping, Adora sighed,

"I'll help you… out in the gardens," Rio chuckled,

"Always the one to find a way out of work," she said, with an incredulous look on her face. Adora gave a dorky smirk,

"You know me best Rio!" she called as she started running towards the gardens, "Race you to the gardens!"

"Hey no fair!" Rio shouted, as she scrambled in an attempt to catch up with Adora. Both girls were laughing the whole way. Esinon let out a shaky breath, every emotion surrounding Ahsoka she had been stuffing down for the last three months was resurfacing.

* * *

The vision had changed, Esinon glanced around, they were still inside the temple as far as she could tell, but inside someone's quarters. There weren't any datapads, laptops, holo TVs, comlinks, transmitters, no tech of any kind.

Old paper bound books littered the shelves, and clothes were covering the floors. She could see Adora sitting laying on the bed, clearly asleep. Esinon backed up into the corner, sensing something was about to happen.

Suddenly Adora shot forward in her bed and a bolt of lightning flew from her fingers and hit the wall just above Esinon's head. Esinon stood there frozen as Adora whipped her head around wildly until her eyes fell on the scorch mark on the wall above Esinon's head.

"No, no, no, no," Adora murmured, climbing out of bed. Esinon shifted out of the way as Adora went to inspect the scorch mark. "Not again," she whimpered, she grabbed a coat rack from the corner of the room and placed it in the way of scorch. "I'll fix it tomorrow morning," now that Esinon took a good look around she spotted an open can of paint in Adora's closet, and messy looking patches of paint covering the walls.

"You're like me," Esinon whispered,

* * *

The vision changed once more until they were standing on the steps of the Jedi temple. Rio and Adora looked significantly older, maybe nearing their twenties. Esinon hugged her arms to her abdomen as she listened to the yelling between the two girls.

"Why are you just leaving me!" Rio screamed as Adora attempted to walk away. Tears were streaming both girls' faces.

"I'm not leaving you Rio," Adora said quietly, the young woman turned around to face her friend. "I need to go and find myself. I have these powers and I need to know what they mean!"

"And you can't do that here?"

"Not with the Jedi, I can't. They won't understand, they will only see darkness. I'm not leaving forever Rio,"

"You're lying," Rio hissed, Adora's lip quivered,

"I'm not Rio, but nothing you say right now is going to stop me from leaving. I have to find myself, without the Jedi, and without you," Esinon whimpered, tears starting to leak from her eyes as Adora walked down the steps of the temple, and Rio was left alone.

* * *

The scenery had changed from the temple, to another place that Esinon was familiar with. The flowery fields and towering mountains of the home of the Gray Jedi. Adora was about to find herself, Esinon followed after the young woman as she began her trek through the woods, using a pale green lightsaber to hack through the foliage.

It happened almost the same way that it had for Esinon, the foliage parted in a path for Adora. It was like the planet had a mind of its own. There was only one key difference, when Adora arrived at the temple, it wasn't a mess of ruins, it was a beautiful sprawling complex with people milling around. People in Jedi-like robes with lightsabers swinging at their hips.

She noticed that on their belts they had keys, each with silhouettes at the top. She cocked her head, they looked like the key that temple guards wore around their waists, huh. So the Jedi had taken some inspiration from the grays. Esinon moved out of the treeline towards her people, but noticed that Adora stayed hunched in the treeline.

Then Esinon remembered that Adora didn't know who she was yet, so she paused to watch. Adora frowned at the scene, slowly starting to back up and head back in the direction of her ship but she was quickly caught by a pair of gray Jedi guards. She struggled and yelled as they removed her lightsaber, and pulled her arms behind her back. A struggling Adora was hauled all the way to the steps of the temple,

"Let go of me!" she shouted, attempting to kick at the guards but to no avail. Esinon followed the party through the halls of the temple, marveling at seeing it in its full beauty and glory. There were glorious tapestries covering the walls, and hundreds of gray Jedi milling around the halls. Adora was dragged kicking and screaming all the way up to the top of the Gray Jedi temple. Esinon stood in the back of the room where two men and women stood, Adora wrenched her arms away from the guards with a growl.

"Guards, who is this?" the woman asked,

"A girl we found hiding in the tree line," he replied, "A Jedi," the guard held out Adora's lightsaber, the four of them looked at each other before one of the women reached out and grabbed the saber.

"We haven't had a Jedi out here in years," one of the men murmured, staring at a very unhappy Adora.

"I thought Sekot was shielded," another woman said,

"Not during the solstice it isn't," the second man replied as Adora's lightsaber was passed to him. "Something called her here, the Jedi have almost forgotten we existed,"

"You think she's experiencing an awakening?" a woman asked, the other man nodded.

"The force is swirling around her in a very strange way," the second man agreed,

"Who are you?" Adora demanded, a terrifying-looking scowl on her face.

"We are the gray Jedi," the first woman replied, "And we think you might be one of us,"

* * *

"Really Rex? You waited to tell me till now I was getting transferred?" Bo asked annoyedly, after finding out that instead of returning to the 91st, he was actually getting sent to some kid who was getting her own legion. Oh- and he had to be the Commander. The 501st Captain shrugged,

"I thought with being an ARC and all you would have figured it out," Bo glared at him,

"No, I only just got back from a mission, I've had no time to snoop," Bo replied with an incredulous look. Rex smirked,

"Well, it's Esinon. You'll be fine, she's done the General thing before, she'll do just fine." Bo grumbled under his breath,

"That doesn't count," he said, "She had a well versed Commander standing behind her and whispering in her ear." Rex sighed,

"I know you don't like Jedi Bo, and you'd rather not go be a Commander, but you've gotta have a little faith. It'll be alright," he attempted to reassure. Bo didn't answer, he was used to transfers by now, and no- he wasn't very attached to the 91st. Even as a Captain, he had been continually called away for ARC missions anyways, so he hadn't even gotten to know the legion for the brief time he had been there. "And I know you're not happy about it but- I guess I don't really have a bright side for this one that you'll think is any good." Bo snorted,

"Thanks for trying anyways Rex," he replied, the 501st Captain opened his mouth to say something but it was interrupted by the buzzing of his comlink which he swiftly answered.

"Rex,"

"REX!" Fives shouted from the other end of the comlink, eliciting another glare from Bo. He did not like that ARC. "Esinon's out of the tranquility spire and is heading towards her knighting ceremony right now!" Rex smiled,

"That's great Fives, you're heading down to the surface I assume?"

"Yeah, haven't gotten to celebrate her eighteenth life day yet because we've been out on missions and I need to get her her first drink."

"If you get her-" Rex said in a stern tone,

"I won't," Fives replied, "I'll see you on the surface if you change your mind," and with that the com call ended. Rex sighed,

"What am I gonna do with him," he muttered, Bo smirked,

"Yeah good luck with that cap,"

"Oh trust me, just because you're moving legions doesn't mean you're rid of Fives. He and Esinon are inseparable."

"Wonderful," Bo said sarcastically, Rex chuckled,

"You'll be fine vod, Fives is on missions all the time anyway," Bo smirked,

"Well it's probably time I get going," Bo said, Rex sighed,

"Don't forget about us brother, make sure to give us a call every once and awhile." Bo pulled Rex in for a hug,

"How could I forget my favorite legion?" he joked, Rex chuckled,

"Glad you like it here so much because General Windcaster was partly raised by General Skywalker, she can be just as aggressive as he can sometimes." Bo sighed,

"It's gonna be a long rest of the war huh?"

"She'll grow on you, promise," Bo nodded as they parted, and grabbed his bag, heading onto the transport.

* * *

Esinon kept her head ducked low, as she entered the knighting chambers, she glanced around at the Masters who were standing in their towers around the chamber. There was a dim glow from the lanterns that were mounted along each tower. She could see Master Kenobi waiting in the middle of the room, and there were temple guards stationed around as well. She made it to the middle of the room and took a knee before Master Kenobi, bowing her head.

"Padawan Windcaster," Master Windu's voice boomed throughout the room, "You have been called before us today because you are ready to take your next step in your journey as a Jedi, knighthood."

"Proved yourself many times have you," Master Yoda said, "a skilled warrior you have become, but also patient, collected, and wise. Ready to take these next steps you are," Master Kenobi stepped behind her and she heard the lightsaber ignite behind her, his blue blade casting a soft glow.

"Padawan Windcaster, you will now join our ranks as Knight Windcaster," Obi-Wan carefully cut away her Padawan braid, and Esinon somehow felt as if a weight had been lifted. It was a fresh beginning for her, her troubles as a padawan had gone away, she knew they hadn't but it felt like a small pressure had been lifted off her chest. "Rise, Knight Windcaster," Esinon slowly stood and bowed to Obi-Wan who was smiling softly at her.

"That was fast," she murmured, Obi-Wan chuckled as they exited the chamber.

"Yep, all that training and suddenly you're a knight." he replied, "I'm very proud of you padawan mine- well I guess you aren't my padawan anymore." Esinon smiled softly,

"Well, you'll always be my Master," she said, bowing to him, Obi-Wan bowed back, even though she had been knighted she knew that she and Obi-Wan would still be the most formidable Master and padawan duo ever.

* * *

"You know for the fastest woman alive you're moving really slow right now," Anakin complained as he paused to wait for Esinon to catch up. Esinon chuckled,

"Trust me, I'm only running this slow because you couldn't keep up with me at my fastest," Esinon said, picking up speed to prove her point as she and Anakin raced through the temple. The keys around her waist clinked around her new robes, she had decided to take some of her newly learned gray Jedi heritage and incorporate it into her robes. She was going to be her own kind of Jedi knight. "So what exactly is it you wanted to show me?" she asked,

"I swear you don't understand surprises, Esinon," he grumbled, Esinon chuckled,

"I understand them just fine, I just don't like them,"

"We're almost there anyway, you'd think you'd know patience by now young knight." he teased, Esinon rolled her eyes, she started to observe where they were running. They were running towards the Republic shipyard, and she was starting to wonder what the world Anakin wanted to show her there. They finally made it to the outskirts of the shipyard and Anakin skidded to halt in front of her and Esinon almost crashed straight into him. "Ok, close your eyes,"

"Why?"

"Just do it Speeds," Esinon grumbled to herself but obliged him anyway. Anakin had seemed happier since her knighting, and she knew that Anakin had been living vicariously through Obi-Wan because he had wanted to feel the same pride that he would have felt if Ahsoka had been as she was supposed to. She used the force to follow Anakin's footsteps, and avoid any collision courses through the shipyard until she sensed him stopping. "Ok, open them," Esinon opened her eyes and blinked a couple of times to adjust to the increase in light, up in the sky there was a Republic cruiser. Esinon frowned,

"Uh- Anakin? You know I've seen a cruiser before right? I spent most of my time growing up on one." she said,

"But that's not just any cruiser Esinon," he said with a large grin on his face, "That's your cruiser! The Duchess, I designed her myself with special accommodations for all of the specialty troopers who are going to be joining your legion! There's a speed lab, updated training software, a lab, everything you could ever need! It's the best cruiser I've ever designed," he glanced down at her trying to gauge her reaction, "So? What do you think?" Esinon felt like she was going to throw up. This was real. This was happening. She was actually a knight, she was a General, she had her own legion, she was about to be responsible for all of these men. She was about to have to be an adult for the first time. She was only eighteen! Korkie was nineteen and still lived with his aunt! "Esinon?" She snapped back from her mini anxiety attack and plastered a fake smile on her face.

"I love it Anakin, thank you," he grinned,

"You're welcome Speedy, you earned it," he said, patting her shoulder, "Just think, you get to meet all the troopers waiting for you up there tomorrow morning. It's exciting stuff."

"Yeah," Esinon murmured as Anakin walked away, "exciting…"

**That night…**

The store bell tinkled as the newest members of the 221st legion entered the restaurant. The smell of grease and fried food hit Glitch's nose immediately, he inhaled deeply letting the familiarity of his favorite restaurant sink back in.

"Hey hey, boys!" Dex called as he noticed the troopers in green standing in the doorway of his restaurant, "You finally came back to the surface!" Glitch grinned,

"Hey, Dex! We couldn't pass up the chance to stop by while we were on world,"

"We leave tomorrow morning though unfortunately," Dej added, Glitch frowned only for a moment knowing that Dej was going to have him at the hanger bay at least an hour before their transport was scheduled to leave because that man had a serious thing for being punctual. Well, it probably wouldn't be an hour, but he was going to have to wake up early and he wasn't exactly ecstatic about it.

"So one more meal before going back to the 'ol ration bars huh?" Dex asked, already informing the waiter droid to start preparing their usual. Glitch nodded eagerly at the thought of getting _real _fried food instead of the tasteless stuff on the cruisers. "How's life in the 41st going?" Dex didn't mention anything about Commander Offee, since he knew that was still a sensitive subject. Glitch stared at his feet, getting lost in his own melancholy thoughts.

"We've actually been transferred," Dej said, not lifting his eyes from his brother for a moment. He finally turned his gaze back towards Dex, "To a new legion, the 221st under General Esinon Windcaster. She was knighted tonight."

"Bright eyes has been knighted?" Dex asked in disbelief, Glitch and Dej glanced at one another hoping that the other would know what the besalisk was talking about. Dej chuckled, "It seems like yesterday she was just a kid that 'ol Obi-Wan came in here talking about a new padawan," Dex grabbed a picture frame off of the wall passing it to the two troopers. Dej peered over Glitch's shoulder to get a better look at the holo. It was a picture of a young Scipian girl with the famed General Kenobi and a couple of 212th troopers. She was grinning up at the camera, Glitch tilted his head staring at the girl's eyes. "Little bright eyes has been a tornado ever since she was a kid, the bags under Obi's eyes could attest to that," Dex said with a chuckle, "Course she's a bit older now, that photo was taken almost two years ago. So that would make her- gosh, eighteen now?" Dej cocked his head, doesn't that mean she should still be a padawan? Maybe Commander Offee was just a special case, he didn't know much about Jedi. "She's sixteen in that picture and that was almost two years ago," Glitch smiled down at the girl,

"She seems happy," he said, Dex chuckled,

"Yeah, she is, I don't know how but she is. Kid's been through a lot," he said, Glitch stared down at the picture again.

"I think you and I are gonna be friends," he murmured,

**The next day…**

Bo walked through the halls of the Duchess towards the hanger bay, he needed to take roll of all of the troopers here to make sure that everything was in order before his new General arrived. Bo grumbled to himself, he never liked the idea of the Jedi using padawans as Commanders. They were kids and should stay at the temple, and now his General was about to be assigned to him and she was about to be as young as a padawan.

Bo didn't have a ton of intention to follow his General's orders, he was more experienced than she was and she could be the face of the legion but he was going to be the brains. Bo finally reached the hanger and the door slid open, he glanced around the room to see troopers in all different colors of armor wandering around. That would have to be fixed, from what he knew that 221st was going to be blue and yellow. He glanced up as another transport pulled down into the hanger, marked with the sigil of Kamino.

"Must be a new batch of shinies," he murmured, the transport landed and the doors slid open.

"Alright, alright, move it, people! Judy! I'm looking at you! Get out of the transport!" a clone's voice yelled from inside, Bo's eyes went wide as twenty droids filed out of the transport. They were all different shapes and sizes, from Astro-mechs all the way to load lifters. How they had gotten load lifters on that transport he didn't know. A clone with hair that fell to his shoulder walked out of the transport holding a datapad, he was murmuring to himself as a ball droid rolled out behind him. Another lavender haired clone wandered out behind him walking on long, mechanical, arms. The second clone tried to wander off but without looking the other long-haired clone grabbed the back of the mechanical armed clone's chest plate halting him in his place. The purple-haired one yelped as he was tugged back into place, and back to reality. The long-haired clone finally looked up from his datapad. "Where's Patricia? PATRICIA!" a small bunny droid sprinted out of the ship and skidded to a halt in front of the long-haired clone. "Try not to hide behind the boiler vents ok? We can't afford to be late today, it's a very big day." Bo walked over to the crew,

"Hello, I'm Commander Bo, CT numbers please," he said, starting to scroll down the datapad.

"CT-2195," the long-haired clone said with a sigh, "I'm Byte,"

"CT-6789," the lavender haired one replied, "Jeho,"

"What's with all the droids?" Bo asked, as Patricia poked out from between Byte's legs.

"Oh, we're engineers," Byte said,

"We exploded Kamino's lab one too many times and they got tired of us," Jeho said, with a shrug of his shoulders. Bo had to glance up to look at Jeho in the eyes since he was still hovering on his mechanical arms that were protruding from a pack on the back of his armor. He was wearing big purple-tinted goggles that Bo couldn't see his eyes through. Bo wasn't sure where they were supposed to go, what the heck was he supposed to do with two engineers? And why would they need them?

"Uh- well, welcome to the 221st," Bo said,

"In case you were wondering, General Windcaster has a place for us to work and is going to show us where." Byte said, Bo nodded,

"Nice to meet you both," he said with a nod and left Jeho and Byte to organize themselves,

"Emily!" Byte shouted the ball droid extended her legs poking her head up to look around for Byte. "What did I say! Stick close to me!" the droid obeyed and rolled back over to him. Bo sighed, he was going to make sure to stay away from wherever General Windcaster was going to station them. Bo began his tedious task of taking roll of all the troopers and searching for the Captains. He had already found a few of them, but he was looking for the main one.

"Bo?" a voice asked in disbelief, Bo turned around in search of the owner of the voice but before he could get a good look at the clone's face he had already been tackled in a hug. "I can't believe it's actually you! I thought I'd never see you again!" Bo glanced down at the trooper who had attacked him,

"Jax?" he whispered, he backed up so Bo could get a look at him.

"Yeah ori'vod it's me," Jax said happily, Bo squished his batchmate into a hug,

"I can't believe you're still alive," he breathed, Jax chuckled,

"Yeah me either,"

"Have you been doing stupid things?" Bo asked in a stern tone, Jax grinned,

"Not Spitfire stupid," he replied,

"Really? All these years and you still think I'm stupid?" another voice asked, both batchmates turned to see the familiar face of their batchmate. "I would consider myself more reckless than- ugh!" Jax tackled his brother to the floor in the tightest hug he could manage, "Happy to see you too," Spitfire gasped, "but- I can't breathe,"

"Oh- sorry," Jax said, letting go and helping Spitfire to his feet. Spitfire didn't last too long before Jax had enveloped him in a hug again.  
"I can't believe both of you are alive! I thought you guys were gone forever,"

"Can't get rid of me that easily," Spitfire joked, Jax finally let up on the hug as Bo came forward, "hey Bo, nice scars," Bo chuckled, of course, Spitfire would mention the three scars that Bo sported across his face.

"Thanks, Spitfire, it's good to see you," Bo replied as he enveloped his brother in a hug. Spitfire let out a harsh breath,

"I can't believe after all these years were finally together again,"

"Well, not all of us," Jax murmured, Bo's heart twinged. They were only missing two of their batchmates, Dej and Glitch. But at the moment Bo was just happy to have some of his batchmates back, for so long he had just assumed they were dead. It was easier that way. Spitfire let go of Bo as a transport roared overhead, and the three troopers backed up giving the pilot room to land. The door to the transport slid open and two troopers exited, both of them froze.

"I- I don't understand," Glitch choked, Dej didn't move for a minute until he slowly moved down the catwalk towards Jax.

"You're still alive," he murmured, Dej pulled his younger brother into a hug. "You're still alive!" Spitfire joined the hug, dragging Bo with him. After a few seconds, Dej realized that Glitch had still not moved from the catwalk. "Glitch?" the trooper finally started to move from the transport.

"I thought all of you were dead," he whimpered, Spitfire grabbed Glitch's arm and pulled him into the middle of the hug. Glitch let out a small sob, clutching Spitfire tightly.

"It's alright," Bo murmured, "We're all together now and that's all that matters." The moment was swiftly interrupted by the buzzing of Bo's comlink, which he attempted to ignore but Dej shot him a look. Bo rolled his eyes begrudgingly answering the com, "Commander Bo," he answered, a hologram of the female admiral of the ship appeared.

"Commander, the General's transport just left the surface, she will be here in about half an hour," she reported,

"Thank you, Admiral Sabella," Bo said, the blonde haired Admiral gave him a nod and her hologram dissipated.

"That's soon," Dej murmured,

"Well, then we better make sure everything is ready for her," Jax said, "It is my duty as a Captain after all," he grinned, Bo chuckled,

"Alright vod'ika, let's get these troops in order," he said with newfound vigor, maybe this transfer wouldn't be so bad after all.

**Half an hour later…**

Esinon peered out the window of her transport as they pulled towards the Duchess. She could already sense the thousands of clone troopers who were on that ship.

The transport pulled down into the hanger where hundreds of troopers were waiting, all in various colors. In the front stood an ARC trooper in 501st blue. She tried to keep herself from shrinking away from the window, she needed to look confident like she knew what she was doing. She spotted an ARC trooper standing in the front of the rows and rows of men, she assumed he was the Commander.

Of course, the Republic's briefing of her new legion had failed to include her officers' names, all she knew was she was looking for a CT- 7845 and CT-3526. She'd at first wondered why her Commander's CT number was a CC number but now upon seeing him she realized he had probably gotten promoted up to this point.

The transport halted, Esinon took a deep breath and got up slowly. She smoothed out the nonexistent wrinkles in her robes and started her walk towards the catwalk, she slowly exited, navy blue sleeves swishing around her body, keys around her waist swaying with her steps. It was absolutely silent, the only noise was the tapping of her boots and the subtle hum of the cruiser's engine. She stopped in front of them, folding her arms behind her back.

"Hello everyone," she greeted, "My name is Esinon Windcaster, welcome to your first day in the 221st. As you know, we have been sent up here to adjust to life here. In approximately two weeks we will be sent out into the field. I need to see CT- 7845 and CT- 3526 please, everyone else is dismissed, Jeho and Byte please stay as well I'll be with you in a moment," The ARC in blue stepped forward, along with another trooper who had only kamas around his waist and was in the shade of green that belonged to Commander Doom's unit. Esinon waited a moment until all of the other troopers had filed out with their squads most likely to their barracks. "I'm sorry I had to use your CT numbers," she said, "The debriefing didn't tell me your names," She noticed the ARC in blue glancing at the one in green. "Unless you two don't have names…" she said slowly, the one in green spoke up,

"We do sir," he said, "I'm Jax, and this is Bo," she gave a small relieved smile,

"It's very nice to meet both of you," she said, "I'm Esino- oh you already know that sorry."

"It's alright, sir," Jax said with a small smile, Esinon relaxed a bit. She liked Jax, Bo had yet to say anything, he just had a very stern-looking, scary face on. Esinon glanced from him to the ground uncomfortably, she recognized that face. Slick used to wear that face a lot before he grew to like her.

"Well, I need to get my stuff set up, and I'll be around the barracks to check in on everyone. My com is always on, if you need anything just let me know," she said with a smile,

"Yes sir," they both replied, she gave them a nod before making her way over to Jeho and Byte. Emily immediately rolled up to her and began to nuzzle,

"Hey girly," Esinon greeted, happily rubbing the droid's side as Emily twittered with excitement, "I didn't think you'd remember me!"

"General," Byte greeted,

"Hello," Jeho said with a wave before returning to whatever he was looking at on his datapad. Esinon felt very short next to Jeho, he had to be hovering at least a foot off the ground on his mechanical arms, and clones were six feet alone. She, unfortunately, hadn't grown much since she was sixteen, so she only stood at 5'2.

"We were told that you would know where to send," he motioned to all the droids behind him, "All of us,"

"Yes," she said excitedly, "I have something to show you guys," She, Jeho, Byte, and their pack of droids walked through the halls of the Duchess. She was extremely excited about this aspect of the ship that Anakin had added, it still amazed her that he had designed this ship. They finally arrived at their destination, "Welcome to the Cortex," she said, the blast door sliding open to a pristine white room with everything an engineer could ever want. Byte's jaw dropped, Patricia snuck out from behind his legs and started happily running around the lab.

"You built all this?" he asked, as Jeho started tentatively exploring the new environment,

"No, Anakin designed it but I've been excited to show you guys! It has everything you had in your lab on Kamino, just smaller. So what do you think?"

"This is amazing, General!" he exclaimed, Jeho popped up from behind a shelving unit, he glanced up at the ceiling and spotted a vent. He used his mechanical arms to latch himself to the ceiling and pried the vent open and crawled inside.

"Look at all this ventilation!" Jeho exclaimed, "I can get everywhere!" Byte chuckled as Esinon stared up at Jeho nostalgically.

"Sorry, we haven't been on a cruiser since the beginning of the war, sir," he explained,

"Use the vents all you want Jeho!" she called, she turned to Byte, "I used to use them all the time when I was a kid. I probably could still fit inside them if Jeho can."

"Vents are his favorite type of transportation, he likes the safety and the calmingness of knowing where he's going. He also is just kinda anti-social."

"A lab rat?" she asked, Byte nodded, she was glad that Byte seemed so relaxed around her. She'd grown accustomed to the 501st and 212th being relaxed with her. She just hoped that there wouldn't be a stickler who would have an issue with being extremely stiff around her.

**A few hours later…**

Dej didn't know why General Windcaster had called him and Glitch to her office Glitch said to relax, they had been out of the barracks when she made her rounds and probably just wanted to meet them. Dej doubted it, General Unduli hadn't even known his name before he left, it was always just 'trooper'.

He didn't think General Windcaster would be any different, Jedi tended to run along the same wavelength of emotions. They finally made it to her office, Glitch did him the favor of knocking on the door.

The door slid open to the jovial young Jedi, Dej at the moment was glad for his helmet to cover his semi-shocked expression. He hadn't really gotten a good look at her in the hanger, Bo had been standing right in his eyeline when she had been talking. But now that he was close to her, she was so… young. And small. Younger than Commander Offee. She grinned up at him, stepping aside,

"Come in, come in, come in," she said, Glitch tapped Dej's wrist as Glitch slowly entered first and Dej followed afterward. "So just in case you forgot because it's been a lot of information to take in, I'm Esinon Windcaster," she said, going to stand behind her desk. "Oh- and you can take off your helmets." Glitch was the first to remove his helmet and Dej followed, General Windcaster had been looking at a datapad while they performed the task, "I missed you two while doing my rounds and I wanted to-" she finally glanced up at them, stopping mid-sentence. She squinted at them for a moment, "You two are the cadets from the Endurance crash," she murmured,

_CT- 3715 had been watching Commander Windcaster silently for a while now, he'd never been this close to a Jedi. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but she looked so… simple. Her robes were mostly brown and she was just a girl. She didn't look much older than he was, maybe it was more about her actions that were amazing. _

_He'd seen Jedi in holo videos that Bo had smuggled into their barracks, not that he approved of Bo doing that, but Bo had the tendency to not listen to… well anyone. He guessed that Jedi weren't impressive in their looks, more in their actions. Maybe that's why they dressed so plain, to not draw attention to themselves. _

_Well, at least until they pulled out their lightsabers which he thought were awesome. His attention was redrawn back from his thoughts by a loud alarm going off, Commander Windcaster immediately perked up as troopers rushed past. CT- 3715's heartbeat picked up, something bad was happening. He felt Glitch grab onto his hand, and saw Bo grabbing Jax's. He squeezed Glitch's hand tighter as a trooper skidded to a halt in front of Commander Windcaster. _

"_Commander Windcaster, General Skywalker needs you immediately, CT-3715 thought that the trooper was about to explain why but he paused, Commander Windcaster glanced back at them and winced. _

"_Explain on the way," she said, the trooper nodded, _

"_This doesn't look like a drill," Bo murmured, watching as another squad of troopers thunder past. _

"_Sargent, you know what to do," she said, with a level of confidence he had only heard come from his elder brothers. Confidence that comes with experience, he couldn't wait until he had the same kind of confidence. _

"You didn't have a name yet, and you were… Glitch, right?" Glitch nodded as Dej snapped back to reality. She grinned happily, proud of herself for remembering something that happened so long ago. But Dej was wondering how she remembered something that happened so long ago, he barely remembered her.

"This is Dej," Glitch said after a moment as Dej was too trapped in his own thoughts to say anything. At the moment he had shifted from trying to fish out any more memories he had from the Endurance to the keys around her waist. At first, he was trying to figure out what they were for, keys weren't really needed for anything because everything was key codes. Why she had such an old form of technology, but his attention was drawn to the silhouettes on top of each key. There was one of a fox, a brain, split in half with orange and blue swirls on opposing sides, one of a twi'lek girl, a pair of Scipian markings, a handprint, two zig-zagged lines with diamonds on either side and the final one, a diamond of mirialan tattoos. Dej's mind perked with curiosity, maybe at some point, he could ask if General Windcaster knew why Commander Offee did what she did.

"Ok, committing those names to memory," she said, "That's all I needed unless you two have any other questions for me," Glitch glanced at Dej who slightly shook his head,

"No sir," Glitch replied, she smiled,

"Alright, well you know where my office is if you need anything. Also, have you guys seen Bo anywhere?" Both of them shook their heads. "Ok, well, thank you, and welcome to the 221st." The two of them saluted their young General and left her office.

"She seems nice," Glitch said, Dej nodded,

"Do you remember the Endurance?" he asked, Glitch nodded,

"Not a ton of it, and I didn't remember the Jedi there was her. I just remembered a nice girl, but it makes sense now," he said, pushing his hair out of his face again.

"So that's where I remember her name from," Dej murmured, "The Endurance,"

"Well it's probably not the only thing you remember her from, she became General of the 212th for a while when General Kenobi faked his death." Dej hummed, trying to pull out as many memories of General Windcaster as possible. "I think that it's not gonna be too bad here."

"Just listen and respect her, and everything will be fine," Dej replied, Glitch sighed.

"Don't worry, I will," he said, Dej nodded and the two of them headed back to their barracks.

* * *

**Hello, hello, hello! **

**Extra points to whoever figures what each key sillouette means, the hint is they all represent people she has lost. **

**Does everyone remember Byte, Jeho, and Jax? I've been dropping 221st hints for a while now. **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: ****This is the 221st's aesthetic: they go into Ikea just to mess around. They break up into teams and the last team to get kicked out wins**

**Also just because I like to talk nerd down here because I can. Today is featuring Legend of Korra because I just started watching it. I love Tenzin and Korra's relationship. He's just such a proud dad, and I think because the white lotus took Korra away she didn't really have a fatherly figure in her life until Tenzin. I just love how he unconditionally loves and supports Korra, like taking time to learn the rules of pro-bending matches so he could support her and helping her when she inevitably gets into trouble. **

**Also, Korra's intro as the avatar was legendary. I'M THE AVATAR! DEAL WITH IT! *proceeds to smash half the stuff in her house with bending* **

**Also, Amon is a better villain than Ozai in my opinion. At least to me because it's terrifying when Amon is right there, taking away people's bending, while Ozai just seemed such a distant figure. I like when the villain is right within reach, and attacking the hero constantly. **

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	55. Winter and Lake

Bo didn't like his new General. Granted, he didn't really like Jedi in general, but he didn't think she was ready for this. She was a literal child and looked like she weighed less than his armor soaking wet. She could get easily trucked or killed by anything and everything. It was going to be near impossible to keep her alive! How he'd even survived this long was beyond him. She didn't look like a seasoned leader, she looked like she should be shelving data cards in the Jedi temple instead of on the front lines. He let out a low annoyed growl but then got an idea. Maybe she wasn't what she seemed, and he could figure out if he was right or not by asking her to spar!

"You are a genius Bo," he muttered to himself, and with that, he set off to find his General.

* * *

Jax thought this was a bad idea, he didn't know what Bo's problem was with their new General. Sure Bo had always had a problem with authority, but General Windcaster was nice and kind. Standing in a sea of 221st clones

But Jax had to hand it to her, she was kicking Bo's butt in this sparring match. Esinon slid underneath Bo's legs as he tried to swing at her, for whatever she wasn't using the force. Maybe to prove a point Jax was guessing, she jumped back to her feet, sending a kick straight into Bo's back sending him stumbling.

He charged her head-on, but as soon as he got close, she landed a well-placed punch to his gut, winding him and sending him crumpling to the floor. Bo quickly got up shoving her shoulders, putting her off-balance enough for him to land a kick in her stomach.

She grunted as she attempted to catch her breath, as she blocked Bo's rapid hits, he pushed her further and further towards the edge of the mats. For the most part, she had held her ground and taken all of Bo's hits until she changed her mind.

She sprinted towards the wall, rocketing up it and flipping behind Bo. She took advantage of Bo's confusion, to leap onto his back and bring him to the ground. She put him in a strong chokehold, as he attempted to wriggle away, but she held her ground.

"Yield," She growled, Bo finally conceded, tapping the mat. The Jedi rolled off of him, offering him her hand. General Windcaster heaved Bo to his feet, wiping sweat from her brow. "That was fun, thanks for challenging me." Bo nodded a little stunned, to be honest, Jax smiled, his new General was really something else. She called her lightsaber into her hand and replaced it on her belt, "Alright, I think some armor painting is in order," the sea of 221st clones parted for their tiny General as she walked among them. They all followed her down the hallway, back to the hanger. After a moment of searching, Esinon spotted the ship that would be holding their paint.

All of the troopers who needed new kits had received theirs and those who already had their armor simply needed to repaint. She pushed open the transport door and stared down at the cans of paint. Blue and yellow. Her new legion's colors were blue and yellow. This wasn't supposed to be her legion, it was supposed to be Ahsoka's.

Like in her vision. Her whole body went stiff, it felt like she couldn't breathe. She fell into flash time she took a few deep breaths, taking the slowed-down seconds to gather herself. "I need to be brave," she murmured to herself, she fell back into regular time. "Alright, everyone! Have at it, I'll be around if you need anything." she hurriedly exited the hanger while Bo and Jax helped hand out paint and brushes. She used her speed to disappear into her office and locked the door. She slid down against the wall, letting out a harsh breath. Why did she never listen to the force? It was trying to tell her something, it was trying to tell her that Ahsoka was going to leave.

**Two weeks later…**

Over the years Esinon had developed the skill of giving other people haircuts. Specifically, the clones. It had started with Waxer needing help to shave his head when Boil had been in the medbay and other troopers had started to come forward, asking for help. A few botched haircuts and shaved heads later she'd actually become pretty good at it. Now chasing down a shiny who needed a haircut but was refusing to get one was another thing.

"Racer! You better get back here right now!" Esinon shouted, skidding around another corner as Racer sprinted away from her.

"I'm in the growing stage! It's fine how it is!"

"No! You are not an eight-year-old little boy anymore and you can't look like a scruffy little hooligan!"

"I like being a hooligan!" Racer shouted, shoving past a few of his brothers trying to lose the Jedi. Esinon phased right through the troopers, clutching the razor tightly in her hand.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jax shouted as she sprinted past, "General! You shouldn't be running with a razor in your hand!"

"I'm a Jedi! I'm fine!" she called back, using her speed to catch up with Racer and tackle him to the ground. "You are getting a haircut and that is final,"

"Come on brother it won't be that bad," Bev said, standing over the Jedi and trooper. Racer grumbled to himself as Esinon crossed her arms over her chest with a smug grin.

"Alright, come on," she said, pulling Racer to his feet and dragging Racer towards the fresher.

"Those two are such momma's boys," Bo murmured as Bev followed the Jedi and clone. Jax chuckled,

"I think she trained them," he said, Bo squinted at the trio,

"Maybe she knew them when they were young, either way, I don't really care," Bo said, Jax rolled his eyes. Even after two weeks, Bo refused to move much past 'sir' with their new General.

He didn't like her and Jax didn't know why, but Bo seemed distant and cold ever since they had gotten back together. Jax hadn't probed much about it, he was going to let Bo come to him. He knew his older brother would come to him eventually.

Esinon had now successfully dragged Racer back to the fresher and sat the grouchy shiny down on the stool. She grabbed the scissors off the counter,

"Don't worry, it'll be over before you know it," she said, Racer sighed and decided to hold still while Esinon worked and Bev kept a watchful eye. Soon she was finished and brushed off the remaining hair from Racer's blacks. "There you go, now you look like an adult," Racer studied his haircut in the mirror, Esinon had shaved down the sides and back down and left the top, floppy and long. She passed him a hair tie, "There, see that wasn't so bad?"

"Yeah, I guess not," he replied, tying the back of his hair up in a small ponytail. "I actually kinda like it, thank you, General,"

"You're welcome Racer," she said, she watched the pair walk away and Esinon was left to clean up the mess on the fresher floor. She called the broom into her hand and began sweeping up the shorn hair from the floor. She could still remember the two little boys that she had known on Kamino, and it was strange to see them grown up in just two years. But she guessed in a way she'd grown up a lot too in two years, she wished she hadn't had to grow up so fast. She still wished she could go back to being a kid, things were easier back then. She glanced up at the sound of boots entering the fresher, she smiled softly at the trooper, "Hello Dej, how are you?" She knew for whatever reason Dej was extremely strict with himself and very shy around her, but he seemed very sweet.

"I'm fine sir, thank you," he said, standing there awkwardly. Esinon studied his checkered pattern that drew from his left thigh up to his right shoulder plate, "Sir, Commander Bo wanted to see you. A new assignment came in,"

"Alright, thank you," she said with a small sigh, she used her speed to finish cleaning everything up before starting her walk with Dej to the command center. The blast slid open and Bo was standing there as stoically as ever, Esinon sighed. It really sucked having a Commander who hated you for what seemed like no reason, but she was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he lost someone and went cold, Esinon knew the feeling of slipping into darkness when someone is gone.

"General," Bo said with a nod, Esinon glanced around at the other men in the room, probably all here for the briefing. Bo passed her a datapad which she quickly scanned at superspeed,

"Ok, here's what we got," Esinon said, pulling up a map of her home Scipio, "My father, Senator Windcaster is heading back home to overview the final negotiations of tax raises between the Separatists and the Republic. Our job is simply to take a small squad down to the surface to protect him and make sure everything with the negotiations runs smoothly." Esinon looked out over the crowd of troopers. "Alright, all of Helix will be coming, Jeho, and Byte, plus Winter and Lake. The rest of you will stay here on standby in case anything goes wrong. Is that alright with you Bo?"

"Yes sir," he replied, walking off to go start preparing the ships. Esinon sighed,

'_Just give it time,' _she thought to herself, "Ok, I'm going to go dig out my parka and let my dad know that I'm coming to the surface. Probably best if Thea doesn't find out I'm there,"

"Sir," Jax began, "If you don't mind me asking, who's Thea?"

"Oh, she's my little sister, she's four now. She lives on Scipio with my cousin Elliot and his wife Piper." she replied, "I think it'll just be easier for her if she doesn't know I'm there," Jax nodded, Esinon walked off to find her coats and get ready for the mission.

**A few hours later…**

Esinon chuckled as Bo shuddered again,

"You a little cold there Commander?" she teased, Bo grumbled to himself,

"It's kriffin' cold on this planet," he growled, Esinon grinned,

"And it isn't even the cold season yet, technically this is Scipio's summer," Bo's eyes went wide under his helmet,

"I don't know why anyone would want to live here," he muttered,

"You'll grow to love it, promise." Both of them glanced up as Esinon's father came walking towards them.

"Hello Esinon, Commander," he greeted, Esinon smiled,

"Hi Dad, this is my Commander, Bo," she said, normally they would have hugged but Esinon could tell he was trying to keep it professional since she was a high ranking military officer and the Separatists were gonna be here soon. Bo gave her father a small salute,

"Sir,"

"It's very nice to meet you, Bo, I appreciate you all coming here to oversee the negotiations," her father said kindly, Bo nodded,

"Alright Bo, let's get the men into the position, the Separatists are gonna be here soon," she said, Bo nodded, before she could get a word out to her men Bo had already beat her to the punch.

"Let's go, men!" he called, Esinon sighed. Bo really did not trust her. That was going to be a problem when they were out on the field should he decide not to listen to her orders. Jax walked over to her as Bo kept ordering the men about,

"Are you alright General?" he asked, Esinon hadn't realized that a frustrated look had crept onto her face.

"Yes, yeah, I'm fine, just not the missions I'm used to. Master Obi-Wan was usually the one who handled the negotiations slash peace talks when I was a Commander."

"I'm sure we'll get some action eventually," he said happily, Esinon gave him a small smile. She liked Jax a lot, he was very sweet. She liked Glitch and Spitfire too, she wasn't sure about Dej yet. He was really quiet, so she didn't have much of an impression of him because she was pretty sure he avoided her when he could.

Now Bo on the other hand just seemed cold, cold towards Jedi at least. She'd met clones who didn't like Jedi, heck she didn't like the Jedi sometimes, but she knew Bo's whole personality wasn't cold because she had seen the way he was with his brothers. He was happy, and a big jokester, he also seemed very caring. Even if Bo never grew to like her, she was going to do her best to keep him alive.

She tore herself from her thoughts to follow after Jax towards the bank. They soon arrived where Bo stationed Winter and Lake at the doors of the bank, and the rest of them standing off to the side while Esinon stood with her father. She glanced over at the sound of snow crunching under boots to see Byte hurrying over,

"What is it Byte?" she muttered, hurrying to meet him.

"General, there is a massive blizzard coming," he said, showing her a weather doppler on his datapad. Esinon frown at the huge patches of red that covered the map,

"How long before it hits?"

"A couple of hours," he replied, Esinon fiddled with her coat sleeve, trying to think of what to do next.

"Tell Bo, hopefully, the negotiations will be over before that. If not we might just have to tough it out," she said, Byte nodded,

"Yes sir," he saluted her before walking back to tell Bo about the plan.

"Everything alright Esinon?" her father asked as soon as she returned,

"Yeah Dad, everything's fine. Just a storm that's coming, that's all." he nodded, and then they both went silent as the Separatist ship pulled down onto the surface. The representative walked out of the ship flanked by seven commando droids, she involuntarily tightened her stance. She was human, not very tall, and had her in an updo that reminded Esinon of how Senator Amidala did her hair.

"Senator Windcaster, General Windcaster," she greeted with a small dip of her head. "It's wonderful to meet you both, I am Senator Elrod,"

"Senator Elrod I'm so glad you could make it," her father replied, returning the gesture of the bow. Esinon didn't move, she heard the large iron doors to the bank slide open, and the muuns walked out. Esinon sensed her father's dissatisfaction towards the other species, Esinon knew that her father didn't have a problem with the muun people in general, but he just didn't like the ones who worked in the bank. He believed that the bank was to some extent corrupt and Esinon didn't necessarily disagree with him, she just believed there wasn't enough evidence to prove the theory.

"Senators, welcome, we are so glad you are here." The head muun greeted, "We can now enter the bank, but as you both know, your protectorates will need to remain outside." both Senators nodded,

"We'll be here if you need anything Senator Windcaster," Esinon said, her dad gave her a fond smile before heading into the bank with Senator Elrod and the muuns. "Now all we do is wait," she murmured to herself, she glanced up at Winter and Lake who were still positioned on either side of the doors. They were both ARC troopers, she wondered why they had been permanently transferred to the 221st. They weren't going to be running ARC missions anymore, Bo said they had 'retired' in a sense as he had.

He was a full-time Commander now instead of running willy nilly around the galaxy as an ARC trooper. Esinon bounced on her toes for a moment, trying to keep her body moving to try and stay warm.

She was bored, this was boring, she knew that the Republic was going to give her 'safer' missions for a time while she adjusted to being a General. Right now she felt like a delivery girl, cleaning loose ends around the galaxy from the war while the 'real' Generals fought on the front lines. They all waited for two hours while the negotiations went on inside until they were finally over and the doors opened once more, Esinon smiled as her father came out looking exhausted but satisfied, Senator Elrod followed next.

She let herself relax knowing that the negotiations had gone off without a hitch. ZING! A shot hit Senator Elrod straight in the shoulder, Esinon gasped as the Separatist senator collapsed to the ground. Her gaze instantly shot upward, behind her, to the cliffs above the bank to see a glimpse of Embo and his dog.

"Bo! Get Boomer down here for the Senator now! I'm going after Embo!" she took off at top speed, launching herself up the canyon and taking off after an escaping Embo. After a few seconds of running, Esinon was realizing how much the deep snow was actually slowing her down so she decided to try an old trick Master Kenobi had taught her.

Water bending.

She concentrated on the force as she sprinted and suddenly jumped up, she used the force to create a slick sheet of ice under her feet. She landed and used the force to continue the icy pathway and slide after Embo, quickly gaining speed and closing the distance between her and the bounty hunter.

While one hand was maintaining her transportation and steering, she used her opposite hand to throw a mountain of snow towards Embo, which he easily dodged. She growled to herself, flicking her wrist to create a snowdrift which she launched herself over to catch back up with Embo, she skated faster and faster as the cold wind whipped in her face.

She raised up a giant snowdrift in an attempt to gain more ground on Embo, but it backfired. She overshot the arc of the drift and instead of flipping over Embo as she had intended, she started a downward plunge but instead of hitting the ground like she had expected she heard the roar of a speeder and felt someone catch her.

"Hey General!" a friendly voice greeted, she opened her eyes to find Lake.

"Lake?" she asked, he chuckled,

"You've gotta watch where you're going," he said as Esinon patted his shoulder and he set her down. Winter was at the wheel, speeding after Embo on his helmet, Esinon ignited her lightsaber and jumped over the rim of the speeder, hanging on with one hand.

"Get me closer Winter!" she called, "I'm gonna make a jump for him!"

"Yes sir," He called, pushing the speeder faster towards the bounty hunter. Esinon leaned forward knowing Embo was almost within reach, she was about to jump for the bounty hunter when she spotted Embo darted into a cave. She let out a small growl as Winter had to put the speeder to a screeching halt, the cave was too small for the speeder to fit through.

"Come on, we've gotta get him," she said, jumping off the speeder and starting to run into the cave. Winter and Lake glanced at each other before deciding to follow after Esinon who was already chasing down Embo. After a few minutes of Esinon running through tunnels, attached only to Embo's faint force signature, she lost it. She skidded to a halt as she came to a fork in the cave. Lake and Winter stopped next to her,

"What now General?" Winter asked, Esinon glanced between the two pathways. She reached out through the force trying to latch onto Embo's force signature but she just couldn't.

"Um…" she murmured, she glanced at the right tunnel, "This way," she said confidently, the three of them took off down the tunnel, the only source of light was Esinon's emerald blades. They wove through the tunnel for almost ten minutes before Esinon realized that they weren't going to find Embo. "Change of plans, we should try and figure out how to get out here." Both ARCs nodded, and Esinon slowed their pace as they continued through the dark tunnel. Esinon stopped for a second, she could sense something… a strong force signature, it wasn't Embo's though. It didn't feel like a person, only a presence. She decided that whatever it was, it might be the force trying to guide her out.

She followed after the presence, the tunnel opened up into a bubble and in the middle was a giant glowing crystal. She cocked her head at the massive amount of force energy the crystal was radiating, both Winter and Lake kept a safe distance from the crystal as Esinon drew closer. Qui-Gon's crystal tugged out from underneath her tunic and began to glow, floating out in the direction of the massive crystal.

She reached out a hand, entranced by the glow and subtle thrumming of the force surrounding the mysterious object. Her fingertips grew closer and closer, almost brushing the smooth su-

BOOM!

An animal screeched as it burst from the side of the cave wall, Esinon fell to the ground at the sheer force of the giant caterpillar looking creature bursting from the walls.

She instantly drew her lightsaber as she came face to face with the creature. It had glowing blue eyes that matched the crystal and giant armored plates that covered its body.

She didn't breathe as the creature got within inches of her face and she could tell that it was strong with the force. She could feel it's gentle tendrils sensing her force signature. Suddenly it screeched and went to attack Esinon, but before it could land a blow, Winter fired a well-placed shot between the eyes. Unfortunately, it didn't do anything because of the tough armor plating where Winter had fired.

The creature's shriek was deafening as it charged towards Winter, Esinon yelped and rolled out of the way hoping not to get impaled by the creature's sharp-looking feet. Lake dove towards Winter, tackling the frozen ARC just in time and the creature rammed into the wall. Esinon jumped to her feet, snapping her wrist so that crackling whip of lightning appeared in her fingertips. She cracked the electricity, snapping it around a horn on the creature's head and with an impressive show of force strength, she wrenched the creature away from her troopers. The creature shrieked again and attempted to charge Esinon but she gracefully flipped over the creature,

"Stay here!" she shouted, as she started to sprint down an opposite hallway, "I'll draw it away and then find you!"

"General no!" Winter shouted,

"Do what I say!" she shouted back, disappearing into the darkness before Winter could protest any further. The creature continued to shriek as Esinon sped up and darted around another corner, unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough and the creature rammed into her. She was thrown into an opposite wall, crashing into the floor. She collapsed to the floor with a groan as the creature screeched again, she pushed herself to her feet, snapping another chord of lightning into her fingers.

She dodged as the creature tried to charge her again, she flipped up onto it's back and looped it around both of the creature's horns and tugged hard. The creature reared and bucked, screeching as Esinon attempted to tame it. After bucking for a few seconds the creature suddenly started burrowing into the cave wall.

Before Esinon could react she had once again been slammed into the wall, she attempted to make a graceful landing but the world was spinning and she landed at an awkward angle on her right foot, twisting her bad ankle. She yelped in pain, she didn't get up immediately, her body was aching and she was still trying to assess what just happened. "That was a big bug," she murmured, she finally pulled herself to her feet and slowly limped her way back to the room with the crystal. She could hear more voices in the room, she looked up to find Bo, Jax, Jeho, and Byte all in the room with Winter and Lake.

Bo was the first to spot her and for some reason, he came rushing over to her. She was so surprised by the action, she forgot her ankle was injured and almost fell to the ground. Bo grabbed her arm, looping an arm around her waist and placing her arm around his shoulders.

"Easy kid, can't have ya collapsing on us," he said, Esinon cocked her head and glanced up at him. Why did he like her all of a sudden? "Lake and Winter said a big bug attacked you guys?"

"I think it was trying to protect the crystal," she muttered, "Both of them were radiating some mad force energy,"

"Is it dead?" he asked, helping her walk towards a hole that the troopers had drilled into the ceiling, she shook her head.

"No, I tried to attack it and it eventually gave up and burrowed back into the cave walls. Either way, I think we should go. I don't want to disturb that crystal any longer," Bo nodded,

"By the way, Senator Elrod is gonna be alright. Boomer got there in time and she's gonna be in a hospital for a while but thankfully she doesn't blame us for what happened. She actually told me to tell you thank you for going after Embo, it was selfless," Esinon glanced up at him and for a second she swore she could sense a smile under his helmet. "Now, speaking of Boomer we better get you to a medic. You're just as reckless as Windu said you were gonna be," she chuckled,

"Well, has to be one of us," she joked,

"Oh trust me, General, he's far more reckless than you," Jax said, Bo glared at his brother before rolling his eyes. Esinon giggled,

"Alright, I want some pain meds, my head hurts,"

"Oh, so you want pain meds this time?" Bo asked, Esinon glared at him,

"I do now, my head is pounding, and I'm cold," she said grouchily,

"Alright Jeho, take her up," Bo said, Jeho nodded, a lavender arm extending up to the surface, the opposite mechanical arm wrapped around her waist and she and Jeho rose to the surface together.

"You have fun down there General?" Glitch asked sarcastically as Jeho loaded her into the speeder that Dej and Glitch were sitting in. She saw Dej shoot a dirty look in Glitch's direction,

"Always," She said jovially, despite the increase in pounding in her head. She was looking forward to sleeping and hopefully tuning out the long lecture Boomer was going to give to her. Maybe she'd get Heart this time instead, he was sweet, she liked him a lot. She rested her head on the back of the speeder but left her eyes open. If she had a concussion, she couldn't go to sleep now.

The ride back to the waiting transport was nice and quiet, she could hear Dej and Glitch going back and forth. It was nice that life was finally settling in to normality. It wasn't that much different if she thought about it, just a new job and new troops, it wasn't much different from the 212th or the 501st. It was mostly just her trying to compensate for her own anxious thoughts.

If she tried to make her new life feel like her old life she wouldn't have as much anxiety about change. She let out a small sigh as Glitch helped pull her up and helped her onto an awaiting transport, and to a waiting Boomer who immediately began to lecture her on her own recklessness. Well, if this was a new normal, it wasn't so bad.

* * *

"Did you get it?" Jeho asked as Byte pulled himself out of the hole in the ground. Byte glanced around to make sure that Bo was out of earshot before pulling out shards of the crystal from his belt.

"Yeah I got it, by my readings it's got some massive force energy radiating from it,"

"Maybe that's why the General was able to sense it,"

"Probably," Byte replied, retucking the glowing crystal shards into his belt. "We'll run more tests when we get back, this could supercharge our droids, it'll be great if it works,"

"Only if it works," Jeho replied, "Let's try not to blow up the Cortex thought, we don't have enough funds to replace everything if we destroy it like on Kamino,"

"You did that on purpose," Byte said as the pair walked towards the transport. Jeho shrugged,

"You didn't like it either," he replied, Byte sighed,

"No, I didn't, I like it here better,"

"Me too," Jeho said with a small smile, Byte wrapped an arm around his brother,

"Things are gonna be better now, promise,"

**A few months later…**

Dej was walking towards General Windcaster's office, hoping to not find her too busy so he could turn in his mission reports. He was embarrassed because he had fallen a little behind because of their constant missions.

The 221st certainly was busy, he was just relieved that he had finished them. Although he needed to get on Spitfire's back about how much he had been procrastinating on his reports, honestly he didn't know how Spitfire worked so well under pressure, it stressed Dej out. He drew closer and closer to General Windcaster's office, he could hear music playing.

Which wasn't out of the ordinary, she normally had music on while she worked but this time he could hear her singing. It was an old song with soft piano music, General Windcaster's soprano voice floated through the air completing the sweet melody.

"But if you feel like I feel," she sang, her voice drifting in a soft alto tone, Dej knew he wasn't supposed to invade the General's privacy like this but her voice was just so pretty and he didn't want her to stop singing so he paused and listened out of sight next to her door. "Please let me know that it's real, you're just too good to be true. Can't take my eyes off of you," A bouncy trumpet and piano melody replaced the soft-spoken music of a few moments early. Now General Windcaster's voice matched the raw power she exhibited as a warrior. It was loud but composed, strong, and controlled. "I love you, baby! And if it's quite alright, I need you baby! To warm these lonely nights! I love you, baby! Trust me when I say!" Dej could imagine General Windcaster's bouncy dance moves around her office, the thought made him smile, she truly was a happy person.

It was refreshing really, her voice tapered off in a subtle hum as she most likely got distracted by a new task needing completion. Dej decided this was the perfect time to slip into her office, he nodded on the door frame,

"General?" she glanced up from her files that were littered across her desk and the floor. It really was a disaster in here,

"Oh hi Dej!" she greeted, a small bunny droid handed her a datapad, "Oh thank you, Judy," The bunny droid beeped happily as she began to collect papers off the ground. A new song started to play, Dej resisted the urge to hum along. He really liked this song,

"Hello General," he greeted, "I just came to turn in my mission report-"

"Hold that thought," she said, her eyes glued to a datapad, "I need to go talk to Bo while I'm still thinking about this," He nodded,

"Yes sir," she disappeared from her office, datapad in hand, leaving Dej alone with Judy. The bunny droid glanced up at him and cocked her head, "Do you want some help?" he asked, the droid nodded, and held up a stack of files towards him. Dej grabbed it out of her hands and started to help Judy clean General Windcaster's disaster of an office. He began to hum along to the song on the radio, "You're a carousel, you're a wishing well, and you light me up when you ring my bell," he sang quietly to himself, slowly getting louder.

Truth was Dej could sing, he just didn't do it in front of other people. "You're a mystery, you're from outer space, you're my every minute of every day," the song was building and the background and he finally became distracted from his task at hand and became fully invested in the song, "And I can't believe that I'm your man and I get to kiss you, baby, just because I can! Whatever comes our way, oh, we'll see it through, and you know that's what our love can do,"

"You have a really nice voice Dej," General Windcaster said, smiling fondly at him. He froze, he did not mean for that to happen. He could feel his face going beat red, and an uncomfortable pit settling into his stomach. He swallowed hard,

"Oh- uh, thank you sir," he said quickly, she smiled,

"Now, about those mission reports," she said, he silently passed them over to her and she read over them at superspeed, "Alright, you're all set, thank you Dej," he saluted,

"Sir," he said stiffly, she gave him that smile that he had begun to grow to love as he ducked out of the room. He let out a small breath, that was so embarrassing. And he was determined not to let any of his brothers find out about it because they would tease them relentlessly. Either way, it was time to put it behind him- a loud whining went off throughout the ship, a blaring alarm as red lights flashed overhead. Dej knew what that meant.

The Duchess had just gone on lockdown.

* * *

**I'm very late, I know, but I just didn't have this chapter written on time. Life's chaotic right now, so sorry yall **

**Alrighty, next up on let's make this canon corner: Dej gets all of his cultural exposure from Glitch **

**The two songs are I love you baby, I listen to the Frank Sinatra version, and Everything by Micheal Buble **

**Ok I have another unrelated let's make this canon corner but it's for LOK: We all know and love the famous, 'yeah, but he's named after his father so we just call him junior' scene from ATLA. I thin that Zuko tried to get back at Iroh for that, one day Iroh II is meeting some people and Zuko goes "and this is Iroh, but he was named after my uncle, so we just call him junior" **

**Also, here's me talking about whatever I want: today I want to talk about LOK Bumi, I'm only on season two but I know he gets bending later. but I was watching the episode where he goes to talk to Aang's statue after Kya and Tenzin tease him for not having any bending. I feel like Bumi secretly always felt guilty that he wasn't an airbender while Aang was alive. He's the oldest so he somehow felt responsible to carry on Aang's legacy. Imagine being the son of the avatar and one of the most famous water benders ever and then thinking for the longest time you aren't a bender. I feel like Bumi thought he was a disappointment which is why he joined the army. he wanted to make something of himself instead of being known as the 'nonbending son of the avatar' I just think no one talks about Bumi's character enough, it's similar how to not a lot of people talk about Sokka's character development. Bumi and Sokka are seen as just comic relief only, and no one sees them as the well developed characters they are. **

**OK I'm done. **

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	56. Crystal Byte

General Windcaster darted out of her office, glancing around. She pressed her comlink,

"Bo, status update," she said, her com crackled a few times.

"General… where… don't know… in… stay away!"

"Bo, repeat," nothing happened on the com, "Bo?" she let out a small growl of frustration, a loud screech thundered through the ship. Esinon cried out, covering her ears with her hands and dropping to a knee. She whimpered, gritting her teeth, "Make it stop," Dej went to her side, trying to figure out if she was injured or what was wrong.

"Make what stop General?" he asked, maybe she just didn't like the noise, but it looked like she was in an immense amount of pain, and the noise wasn't hurting him in the slightest. The screeching finally stopped and Esinon shakily removed her hands, glancing around the hallway that was still enshrouded in red light.

"We need to go find the others and find out what's going on, it looks like coms are down," She said, as Dej helped her to stand. They began to run down the hallway in search of other troopers, and Esinon was hoping she would find Bo. The two of them continued to sprint through the hallways until they spotted a pair of troopers running towards them. All four of them skidded to a halt, it was Jax and Glitch. "Guys? What is going on?"

"We don't know," Jax panted, "But there are a lot of angry robots headed this way," Esinon cocked an eyebrow,

"Robots?"

"Angry droids are coming to kill us!" Glitch shouted,

"Glitch!" Jax hissed, "Sound activates the droids remember?"

"Hold on," Dej said, "Byte's droids are coming to kill us?"

"Yes!" Glitch whisper- shouted, another loud shriek echoed through the ship causing Esinon to yelp,

"General?" Jax asked as Esinon whimpered, gripping her head. "What's wrong?"

"The force," She grunted, "It's angry, it's dark, it's hurting,"

"Gah where's Jeho when you need him," Jax muttered, as Esinon tried to block out the screaming in the real world and in the force. The shrieking once again stopped and Esinon drew her lightsaber as a new sound caught her attention. The sound of thundering droid feet, there were a lot of droids coming this way. She got in front of her men and looked down the hallway, there were at least half a dozen droids charging down the hallway, all of their eyes were glowing red and the kyber crystals in their centers were covered in red tendrils. She ignited her second blade, spinning the double-bladed emerald saber threateningly.

"Sorry Byte," she whispered, she was going to try and not destroy them too badly. She could always help him put them back together, she charged towards the droids, flipping over a repurposed commando droid and kicked it hard in the head sending it into another droid. She landed gracefully, using the force to shove a droid away that attempted to charge her. She got distracted for only a moment and a droid tackled her from behind, she flipped herself over, attempting to shove her lightsaber through the droid's core but Qui-Gon's crystal ripped out from under her shirt.

The crystal was glowing brightly and her lightsaber was crackling violently, she panicked as Qui-Gon's crystal floated closer and closer to the red tendrils. She attempted to shove herself away but couldn't, the crystal's tips touched a tendril and Esinon cried out in pain.

The droid drew away from her as Esinon clutched and arm to her body, red veins starting to crawl up her arm. Someone shouted her name, she wasn't sure who, she was too overwhelmed by the darkness and pain to answer. The veins crept up her arms and neck towards her face and the world went dark.

* * *

"General?" Jax asked carefully as Esinon went silent, she started to slowly pull herself from the ground. The clone captain had yet to realize what had happened to his General, Esinon slowly turned around, her eyes glowing bright red. "General…" she called her lightsaber into her hand and ignited it slowly,

"Jax," Dej said, tugging on his brother's arm. "Jax, I think we should go,"

"I have a bad feeling about this," Glitch murmured as Esinon raised a limp finger towards them, and the droids charged. The three troopers sprinted down the hallway,

"We've gotta get to the armory!" Dej shouted, Jax pulled out one of his DC-17's and began firing at the rouge droids, Esinon stalked around the corner, her eyes flickering darkly. Jax knew that whatever had taken over Esinon had left only a shell, that wasn't his General. She let out a roar, firing a bolt of lighting down the hallway.

The clones jumped out of the way as she sprinted after them, more droids flooding the halls. She leapt towards Glitch, throwing an electrified kick towards his head, he ducked as she landed gracefully behind.

She snarled, leaping for his neck again, this time landing a rapid-fire series of punches and kicks. Dej attempted to make a run for his brother, but it was quickly tackled by a droid, the droid screeched again. Esinon grabbed the back of Glitch's chest plate and threw him down the hallway, she pointed a finger at Dej who was still on the ground, wrestling the droid who was still screeching.

"Back," she snarled, the droid instantly fell in line with the others, "He's mine," her voice was distorted… dark. It didn't sound like her. Dej was given much more time to think about it as Esinon bent a piece of plating on the wall with the force down towards him. He rolled out of the way as the metal came crashing down, she broke off shards with the force, sending them hurtling towards him.

He dodged them, ducking around another corner. He eyed Jax checking in on an unconscious Glitch. He needed to draw her away, and hopefully find some help. He heard metal screeching against metal as Esinon threw another dagger of plating, which ricocheted off the opposite end of the hallway, and plunged into the wall, right next to his head.

He decided to bolt, skidding around another corner as a steady stream of lightning fired after him. General Windcaster came stalking around the corner, both of her arms encased in electricity, she clapped her hands together sending a shockwave in his direction. The noise and force of the action echoed through the halls of the Duchess, it made Dej's head pound, and ears ring.

He plastered himself to the floor as the lighting roared overhead, before he could get to his feet Esinon had tackled him, he wrestled with her for a moment while she tried to reach an electrified hand for his face.

He knew General Windcaster was smaller than him and she was always big about 'throwing weight around' when she trained with them. He was about a hundred pounds heavier than her and decided to use it. He shoved her shoulder, throwing her off balance. He swung his leg over her back, gaining enough momentum to get on top of her, he grabbed her arms pinning them to her sides, forcing her to lose her concentration to release her hold on her lightning.

What Dej had failed to remember is that her army of droids had been patiently waiting for their General to call them to action and Esinon chose that moment to do so. She screeched in the same pitch and tone as the droids, instantly four droids had tackled him off of General Windcaster. She rolled away nimbly jumping to her feet, with a flick of her finger the droids instantly backed away from him. She drew a ring of lightning in front of her body, and fired, Dej collapsed to his knees as the electricity coursed through his veins.

He can help but let the scream of pain escape from his lips, he's felt pain before. Unimaginable pain that spreads through him like a forest fire, he can only scrunch his eyes shut, body curling further in on itself. As soon as it began it stopped, he opened his eyes slowly as Esinon grunted, growling and whimpering as her eyes flickered. She slowly sunk to her knees, gripping her hair, her normally neat phohawk braid coming loose and long brown strands drooping in her conflicted face. The droids neared her, her kyber crystal ripped forward again and touched the core of another droid. She again went silent, her hand raised slowly and she clenched her fingers, not yet forming a fist. She dragged her hand down, he was hurting too much to move. He could only watch as another metal plating came crumbling towards him. He didn't want to accept his fate, but he knew it was coming, he was about to be killed by his own General.

A loud clang filled the air, Dej glanced up to see a pair of lavender arms holding up the plating. He recognized that tech,

"Jeho?" he asked, the second pair of lavender arms shot out and grabbed him around the waist. He was lifted up into a ventilation shaft where Byte dragged him.

"Dej, are you alright?" the engineer asked frantically, he nodded slowly,

"Wait! What about Jeho!" he said, trying to scramble back out of the vent, Byte grabbed him, holding him back.

"Jeho can handle himself," Dej heard a loud grunt, followed by the clattering and screeching of metal. Dej poked his head out of the vent to see Jeho had thrown the metal plating back at General Windcaster.

She evidently had dodged it, but he had managed to trap a good portion of her droid army underneath it. Dej grimaced as the droids began wriggling like worms out from underneath the metal plating. He'd remembered hearing horror stories about a hive mind on Geonosis after the 41st left, well, all except Commander Offee. The whole incident had almost claimed her life.

Esinon tore out more shards, sending them in an angry frenzy towards Jeho. He had far more mobility than Dej had had on his mechanical arms, and gracefully dodged each of the shards. He swiftly raced towards General Windcaster, grabbing an arm that was lifting another shard forward to hurl at him. He threw her down the hallway, turning his attentions to the droids, four droids poppers were instantly released from his belt and with a bong the electricity dispersed over the droids that had been trying to attack him.

Dej thought the nasty machines would quit wriggling and screeching, but it seemed to only hinder them. Unfortunately, Jeho didn't have much time to try and figure out a better way to deal with the droids because Esinon was up again. She let out another snarl, stamping her foot on the ground, and thrusting her arms out towards the walls around the room.

She pulled downward and instantly every metal plating in the hallway came down too. Jeho yelped as he rose up on his mechanical arms, desperately trying to dodge all of the metal that was crashing down towards him. He gave a fleeting glance toward Byte and Dej before sprinting down the hallway, latching onto the ceiling to avoid the hoards of droids below. Just before Jeho could manage to draw Esinon awake, she stretched out a hand towards him, stopping him dead in his tracks. She chuckled darkly, stretching out another hand towards the ceiling.

"Don't think I don't know you're there clones," she said slickly, she wrenched downward, drawing the ventilation down sharply. Both Dej and Byte were dragged down as well, yelps of pain escaping from both of them as the vent collapsed on top of them. Dej groaned, struggling to push a heavy metal plate off of his body. "Did you really think you could defeat me?" she asked with a cold laugh, she let go of Jeho, using the force to throw the metal plate that had been crushing Dej and Byte aside. "And as fun, as it would be to watch you die by crushing you with that," she lazily motioned to the metal plate. "I'd rather kill you myself," she smiled wickedly, her eyes flickering darkly, casting ominous shadows across her normally gentle face. She ignited her lightsaber, just as she was about to plunge it downward, Jeho's lavender arm caught her wrists. He wrenched her hands away and her lightsaber was torn from her hands. She let out a roar of pain, as she stumbled. Jeho wrapped another lavender arm around her waist, he grunted as he threw her down the hall again.

"Come on, we have to get out of here now," he said, Dej grabbed Byte's arm, pulling his brother to his feet. The three clones sprinted away from their infected General, they ran faster listening to the screeching of the droids growing closer.

"The armory is this way," Dej said, turning around another corner. They luckily made it to the armory before General Windcaster or her droids could catch up to them. Dej quickly wired the door shut, he sighed, sliding down against the wall, gripping his aching ribs. "Are you both alright?" he asked,

"We'll be fine," Jeho replied, inspecting his lavender arms, grimacing at the strains in the machinery the fight had caused. Dej immediately perked up when he heard something clank, he stood, grabbing a blaster off of the wall. He started into the dimly lit armory, searching for the source of the noise and hoping it wasn't what he thought it was-

"Dej!" Glitch shouted, tackling his brother in a hug, Dej sighed, dropping the blaster.

"Kriff Glitch, I could've shot you," he muttered,

"I thought you were gonna die," Glitch murmured, Dej huffed out a laugh. He decided not to say that he thought he was going to die because, one that would make Glitch even more upset, and scared, plus Jax was right there and that would set off his anxiety like a landmine.

"'M ok," he decided to murmur instead,

"Where is General Windcaster?" Jax asked,

"We don't know," Jeho replied, "Somewhere a couple hallways down when I threw her, but I doubt she's stayed in one place for long. Whether she's coming for us, I don't know, she may have gotten bored and tried to go find a fun new target."

"We've got to get her isolated," Dej said, "she's far too powerful with all those droids."

"What's even happening to her?" Glitch asked, "she would never attack us like this,"

"It's because it isn't her," Dej replied, Byte was about to open his mouth to explain but Dej beat him to it. "General Windcaster didn't get infected until she went near the droids. Also, the kyber crystal she wears around her neck touched a droid's core twice. She attacked me and had a moment of conflict, but then a droid touched her crystal again and she shut down. Byte, what do you guys use to power your droids?"

"Kyber crystals," the engineer replied, "they're more reliable and powerful than batteries and power cells."

"I thought only force sensitives could find those," Jax said,

"Tech is a wonderful thing my friend," Byte replied,

"There must be some sort of source for this 'infection'…" Dej said, "A patient zero,"

"Yeah… I think we know what happened," Byte said carefully,

"Remember that crazy rock from Scipio? Well, we took a sample of it to try and supercharge our droids because it was reading similar force energy to kyber crystals and we thought maybe it could supercharge our droids to make them more efficient, but the crystal from Scipio seems to have reacted negatively with the kyber crystals and infected the crystals in our bots and consequently General Windcaster," Jax glared at the two of them.

"What in the name of the force made you think it was a good idea to take a strange crystal from a planet we don't know!" he shouted, Dej slapped a hand over his brother's mouth.

"Just because the door is locked up doesn't mean we need a bunch of droids or General Windcaster trying to knock it down," he said, Jax's eyes went wide for a moment before Dej carefully removed his hand from Jax's mouth.

"Sorry, but now look what you dunderheads have done!" he whisper shouted, "Now all of your droids and our General are trying to kill us!"

"Maybe that's what the strange reading was, maybe it was the dark side," Byte said, Jeho cocked his head, he pulled out his holo-recorder,

"Log, day 123 update, the strange crystal seems to have infected General Windcaster as well. Byte has postulated that it was possibly a dark side reading," he said, then clicked the recorder off.

"Ok, where is the crystal from Scipio now?"

"It's in a machine in the Cortex," Byte said,

"Wait!" Jeho exclaimed, his lavender flopping down in front of his purple-tinted goggles, "The experiment isn't done yet!"

"I think it's pretty safe to say the experiment is a failure!" Glitch snapped,

"No-" Jeho began, but then he glanced down at his damaged mechanical arms and then Dej who was still guarding his ribs with his arm.

"Ok, yeah, yeah this experiment is a failure."

"Ok, so we know that General Windcaster didn't get infected until her kyber crystal touched the droids, so the logical option is to get her crystals off of her. Maybe then the infection will stop." Dej said, "We just need to isolate her, we should be able to overwhelm her if we can get her away from her mini army."

"It's worth a shot," Jax said,

"Alright," Dej replied, "Here's what we're going to do,"

* * *

Dej watched silently as the door to the armory slid open, he could see the shadowy outlines of the droids standing near the doorway as General Windcaster stepped into the armory. He waited until she had stepped further in, she swiveled her head slowly, walking further, further, almost there… Jax slipped behind General Windcaster, pressing the panel to the armory door, successfully closing and locking it. She let out a roar of frustration, her arm hurling forward about to throw a bolt of lightning towards her Captain-

"Now!" Dej shouted, Jeho's mechanical arms extended down from the ceiling grabbing a hold of Esinon's arms and waist. She yelled and shouted, thrashing in the restrains, Glitch fired a stun blast from behind. But instead of stunning her as Dej had hoped, it just made her angrier. She finally managed to ignite her lightsaber, despite Jeho's best efforts to hold her firm, she slashed his mechanical arms and freed herself, dropping down to the ground.

Before she could charge any of them, Dej tackled her, grabbing her arm holding her lightsaber, and twisted the weapon out of her hand. She snarled, calling a new weapon into her hand, a dagger flew out of her boot and she grabbed him by the back of the chest plate and threw him over herself. She tackled him and just before she could plunge the dagger into his heart he caught her arms. She chuckled darkly,

"You really thought you could defeat me?" she cooed, "I'm going to enjoy killing you,"

"Byte," Dej grunted, desperately trying to keep her dagger from going through his heart, he knew she had the strength to plunge it straight through his plastoid armor. Byte darted out, snatching the kyber crystal from around her neck. Her dagger clattered to the floor, and her body slumped on top of Dej's body. Dej held up his hands awkwardly, trying to touch General Windcaster as little as possible, this situation was not one he ever pictured himself in. Jax grabbed General Windcaster's lightsaber off the ground.

"We probably keep these away from her," Jax said, Dej watched as the red veins that once covered General Windcaster's body retracted and disappeared.

"Um- guys, a little help here," Dej said, Glitch rolled his eyes, he went around by Dej's head and grabbed under General Windcaster's armpits and hauled her upward, shifting her into a bridal's carry in his arms.

"You know you're allowed to touch her right? She's big on his hugs," Dej grumbled to himself as he stood up and grabbed her dagger off the ground,

"Even though you've gotten all buddy-buddy with the General, which is very much outside of regulation, doesn't mean I will too." Dej said as Jax passed him General Windcaster's lightsaber, "You're supposed to respect, not dote her,"

"I do respect her," Glitch protested, "I respect her love of hugs," he pressed a cheek to General Windcaster's hair just to prove a point to his annoyed brother.

"Shouldn't we wait for General Windcaster to wake up?" Glitch asked, "After all, she could help us," Dej paused for a minute,

"I dunno, we don't really know what kind of effect being infected had on her," he replied, Glitch glanced from his limp General to his brother.

"We can't just leave her," he said,

"And I'm not suggesting we do that, I'm suggesting that we get somewhere safer than here. Just because we've removed General Windcaster from the picture doesn't mean we've shut down all the droids," he said,

"I think Dej is right," Byte said, "We should get back in the vents and get to the Cortex. His kyber crystal theory seems to be right, I think if we destroy the crystal from Scipio in the Cortex, it should shut down the rest of the droids."

"Sounds like a plan," Jax said,

"Alright everyone, in the vents," Jeho said, just as they all began to make a move for the vents, General Windcaster began to stir. She groaned, looking up at Glitch.

"Glitch? There's two of you!" She giggled in a slurred voice, "That's nice,"

"That's not good," Dej murmured,

"How are you feeling General," Glitch whispered,

"Just peachy!" Esinon said sarcastically, throwing her head back, "Wait, why are we whispering?" she asked, lifting her head up again,

"Sounds activates the robots," Glitch whispered,

"ROBOTS!" Esinon shouted, "What robots?"

"The ones that are trying to kill us," he replied, Esinon sighed,

"Oh, those robots. Ok. I'm 'nna take a nap now," she said, dropping her head back and closing her eyes, Glitch panicked and shook her back awake.

"No, no, no, no, no! You have to stay awake! We've got to go to the Cortex to destroy the crystal that Jeho and Byte stole from Scipio and then you'll feel all better again!"

"Better?" Esinon scoffed, "I'm finneeeeee, pfft, I'm Esinon Windcaster! I'm awesome!" She pressed her nose against Glitch's giggling, until her head dropped back again, "Hi Glitch," she murmured,

"Seems that her ego isn't infected," Jax said, Esinon giggled again as she stared at Dej upside down,

"When did you learn to fly Dej?" she asked, he sighed,

"She's getting worse, we need to get to the Cortex," Dej said,

"Alright, every one, into the vents," Byte said, Jeho grabbed the back of his brother's chest plate with his still operational mechanical arm and placed Byte into the vent. Glitch stood up next, still holding Esinon in his arms. She wriggled a little bit, successfully hopping out of Glitch's arms.

"I can walk fiNE!" she yelped as her legs gave out. She attempted to grab onto Glitch's arm to steady herself but the momentum of the movement brought them both to the ground. Jax grumbled to himself as he grabbed Esinon off the floor and placed her arms around his neck.

"No walking for you," he said, Esinon grumbled to herself,

"I'm your General," she said,

"My General you may be, but you are currently incapacitated," Jax replied, Jeho wrapped his mechanical arms around Esinon's waist and hefted her into the vents. Jeho lifted everyone in next and then climbed in himself,

"Alright, everyone this way," he said, everyone crawled along. It seemed like they had been at this for hours, and Jeho didn't seem to know where he was going.

"I think we already went down this corridor," Byte said, Jeho glanced around, and Dej cocked his head. How they could even differentiate the vents from one another was beyond him. "Don't you have a map of this place?"

"Well, I normally do on my datapad," Jeho replied, "but just like all of our other tech it's kind of evil right now." Dej sighed and continued on anyway, they finally came to another grate. Jeho peeked downward, "Wait, I think we're close," he said, he pried off the grate,

"Hang on Jeho, I'll go with you," Jax said, Jeho nodded as Jax passed a still delirious Esinon over to Dej.

"Jax!" Dej exclaimed quietly,

"It's only for a few minutes, I'll be back," he said, lowering himself out of the grate with Jeho. Esinon stirred, staring up at him, she slowly turned her gaze towards Glitch.

"You know… you guys are really _great. _You're just like the best. You're _good friends_ and _good people_," she said in her slurred voice, she jabbed a finger into Dej's chest plate, "but you need to _relax, _your force signature is always so stressed around me. _And like, _all your second-hand stress is exhausting. So you just need to like _live, _because we have a dangerous job." she frowned for a second, her brows furrowing. "So like _live life, _because a lot of it isn't sucky,"

"Holy force General," Glitch murmured, "Can I hug you? Because I've been trying to tell him that forever,"

"I kriffin' love hugs, c'mere," Esinon said, embracing Glitch, and he shot Dej a smug look.

"Told you," he mouthed, Dej rolled his eyes,

"We're talking about this later," he mouthed back, at that moment they could hear a lot of yells and a string of curses followed by blaster shots, Jax appeared back in the vent a second later, dragging Jeho up with him.

"Ok, change of plans, we're staying in the vents," Jax said,

"Yeah! It's a girls' night in!" Esinon cheered, her eyebrows screwed together again, "Wait a minute. How am I supposed to have a girls night in when all of you are boys?" all of the troopers glanced at each other, "Ok, PEOPLE NIGHT IN!" Glitch slapped a hand over Esinon's mouth,

"General, remember noise activates the bots," she nodded tiredly, going quiet once again.

"So are we close to the Cortex?" Dej asked, Jax nodded,

"Yeah, it's a couple corridors down," he replied,

"Let's hurry, General Windcaster isn't lookin' so good," Glitch said worriedly, as the tired Jedi shifted sleepily in his arms.

"Glitch," she murmured, "I don't feel good,"

"I know," he whispered, "We're almost to the Cortex, then we'll make you all better," She nodded, closing her eyes.

"This way," Jeho said, they continued down the vents until they finally reached the hallway and all of them dropped down.

"Did we find the robots yet?" General Windcaster whispered,

"We're at the lab now," he explained,

"Dej, give me my lightsaber," she demanded, holding out her hand towards him.

"With all due respect you should leave this fight to us," she giggled again,

"See? So stressed out," she murmured, Dej sighed, was he really that tense? Then again, General Windcaster was probably just saying things, she was really out of it. Glitch set her down right next to the lab,

"Alright, let's go destroy that thing." Jeho walked over to the control panel and attempted to open the door but it electrocuted him. Esinon reached out a hand towards the glowing light but Dej gently guided her hand back into her lap. Jeho finally backed away from the door, his hair sticking up in all sorts of places.

"Wow! The door is infected too, that's so smart," he marveled, everyone stared at him, "And bad, we're all gonna die." Everyone's heads whipped up at the sound of thundering feet.

"That's not good," Glitch murmured, he grabbed General Windcaster anticipating that they were going to have to run.

"Yeah. We should go," Byte said, starting to jog in the other direction, They all started to follow but they didn't make it far before they ran into a pod of droids. "Uh, other way," Byte said, they instantly ran into another pod of droids.

"What now?" Glitch asked nervously, Jax tossed his other blaster to Dej.

"Uh, try and fight them off?"

"Take that droids!" Spitfire yelled, moving down a row of droids with his Z-6, Bo came out next, taking out four more droids, he tossed blasters to Jeho and Byte.

"What's happening?" Esinon asked,

"It's Bo!" Glitch exclaimed happily,

"YAY IT'S A RAINBOW!" she cheered happily, Glitch chuckled as he fired off rounds at droids, all while Esinon was still holding onto him. Soon all of the droids had been demolished.

"What happened to her?" Bo asked, as Esinon giggled softly,

"She got infected by the same thing that the bots did and now she's like this," Dej said, Bo sighed,

"The stupid things you do," he muttered, tilting her chin so her eyes would meet his. Esinon giggled,

"More like the stupid things you do," she said pointing a finger at him, Bo chuckled,

"Sure kid," Jax glanced at Bo to Esinon, he was confused. It really seemed like Bo had known Esinon before now. He shook himself from his thoughts, figuring out how Bo knew Esinon would have to wait.

"Alright, let's get this door open," Bo said, grabbing Esinon's lightsaber off of Dej's belt.

"Wait Bo, do you know how to use that thing?"

"Sure," Bo said, igniting the top half and began cutting through the door. Dej sighed, Bo really had not lost his quality of 'I'm gonna do whatever I want.' Bo finished cutting through the door and kicked it in. All of the clones whipped their blasters up as the droids lifted their heads to face them slowly. They all began to fire as the droids came forward,

"Pew, pew, pew!" Esinon cheered, "GET 'EM!"

"General, you've still gotta be quiet," Glitch said softly,

"Ok, sorry," she whispered, with a dopey grin on her face. Glitch fired off another round, Esinon jumped off of Glitch's back and grabbed a droid that was about to attack Dej and ripped it's head off. "WHOA! Did you see that! I'm so STRONG!" she cheered, using her fist to punch another droid, "This is fun!" She tackled another droid, ripping out its heart with her hand, and threw it into another droid. "Take that!" Bo chuckled,

"Go get 'em, kid," he said, and Esinon took off running and continued destroying bots in a childish frenzy. Soon the room was devoid of any standing droids, they were all demolished now. Byte whimpered,

"My poor droids," he said, Esinon stumbled a bit, holding up a droid arm towards the red crystal in the center of the room.

"There, that thing is angry, WHOA!" she finally tipped over and fell to the ground, "I'm good!" she shouted, holding her thumb up. She jumped up to her feet, stumbling slightly again. Bo grabbed Esinon's lightsaber off of his belt and ignited it, he drove the emerald blade into the infected crystal. The red tendrils retracted and the glowing red lights faded, Esinon groaned and collapsed.

"General!" Bo shouted, he dropped to his knees next to her. "Kid, can you hear me?" She still didn't answer, "I'm taking her to the med bay," he said, scooping the small form of their General and marching towards the med bay. Dej stumbled slightly as the adrenaline from the day faded and his real aches and pain began setting in, kriff, he hurt all over. Speaking of the med bay, he really needed to see a medic. He didn't know what effect getting hit with force lightning had had on him.

* * *

Esinon slowly blinked her eyes open, she glanced over at Bo and Boomer who was standing next to him. She could feel an IV in her hand, and a heart monitor on her chest, along with two wires attached to her head, mostly likely monitoring her brain activity. She stared up at the ceiling, trying to hold back tears.

"Did I kill anyone?" she asked,

"No," Boomer said softly, "You didn't kill anyone," she let out a shaky breath,

"Can I have a little bit of time alone?" she asked, her voice cracking towards the end. Boomer nodded,

"Of course, we'll be back in a little bit to check on you." The two troopers exited, closing the curtain behind them. Esinon let silent tears stream down the side of her face, she couldn't remember much of what had happened. But she remembered being in so much pain and wanting to make other people suffer just as much as she was in that moment. She was so angry. She choked down another sob, knowing that Boomer and Bo were probably hovering right outside. It was horrible, every dark feeling of hatred, betrayal, hurt, anger, and sadness had come flooding out in an unforgiving tidal wave. And now it was all coming crashing back down.

* * *

Dej glanced up at Boomer as the medic wrote something down on his datapad.

"So you've got some bruised ribs, and a couple minor cuts,"

"I feel like there's a but coming," Dej said, Boomer sighed, tucking the datapad under his arm, grabbing a bandage off the counter as he spotted another scrape on Dej's shoulder.

"But being struck with force lightning can induce fevers and seizures, so I want to keep you overnight for observation just to make sure everything is actually alright." he explained, Dej nodded as the medic started for the door, "I'm gonna go grab some pajamas for you,"

"Boomer, I have a question," he began, the medic nodded,

"Sure, what is it?"

"Is… is General Windcaster going to be alright?" he asked tentatively, still a little rattled by everything that had happened. Boomer sighed,

"She's awake and responsive which is good, physically she seems fine. Just a little battered and bruised from the fights, and her brain activity has returned to normal which is also a good sign."

"So what exactly did that crystal thing do to her?" he asked,

"We don't know," Boomer said, "I'm a field medic, not a Jedi healer. Crazy infected kyber crystal Generals were not exactly covered in my training."

"But she's going to be alright, right?" Boomer nodded,

"We think so, and if it makes you feel better, she's one room over, so if anything bad happens you'll be the first to call us," he said, Dej nodded, "now lie down, I'm going to go grab you some pajamas," Dej obeyed, letting out a harsh breath as his head sunk into the pillow. He dragged a hand down his face still trying to process exactly what had happened today, he still wasn't sure if he had to be honest. He was just hoping to sleep this out and that no symptoms of force lightning would show up. He closed his eyes, finally letting himself rest.

**Later that night…**

Dej had always been a light sleeper, years of being a soldier and sleeping in a warzone didn't exactly help. He jolted awake at the sound of a muffled shout from the room next to him. He looked around groggily, he could see the shadow of General Windcaster and hear her panting in the next room. He slowly got out of bed, mostly on instinct, he was used to waking up in the middle of the night to help someone with nightmares. He'd never done it for his General before, but his feet seemed to be moving of their own accord at this point. He pushed back to the curtain to her room,

"General?" he asked, Esinon glanced quickly at Dej before refocusing her gaze on her bedding.

"Oh- uh, hi Dej, did I wake you, I'm sorry," she stammered,

"I was already awake sir," he lied, staying at the safe distance of her doorway. "I just heard some… noises, and came to see if you were ok,"

"I'm fine, thanks," she murmured,

"Are you sure General, because I can get Boomer if you-" Dej began but then tapered off at the look on her face. He followed her eyes downward and realized that bandages were sticking out from underneath his sleep shirt.

"Your ribs…" she whispered,

"These will heal sir," he attempted to reassure her, but the damage had already been done. She let out a harsh breath, a small whimper escaping her lips as she pressed a hand to her forehead.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered, "I don't want you dead, I didn't want to kill, and I'm so, so, sorry. I didn't mean anything I said," A few tears slipped down her face,

"I know that sir," he said gently, "I could tell it wasn't you, you would never do that to anyone,"

"It was horrible Dej," she whimpered, "it was so horrible. It was like every negative emotion I- I've ever had come flooding to the surface and I-I wanted to make e-everyone else hurt as much as I was." Dej was a little unsure what to do at this point, he hadn't expected her to be like this. He tentatively walked toward her, debating about what he should do next. He gradually came closer and carefully placed a hand on her shoulder. At first, she stiffened at the contact but then relaxed,

"It's over now General," he whispered,

"But I should have been able to fight it, I should have been able to stop myself," she said, her voice rising slightly. Dej tentatively removed his hand from her back,

"If it makes you feel sir, you were fighting against it. I saw it, you stopped… trying to hurt me when you heard me," he said, choosing his words carefully. If she couldn't remember much of what she had done, it was probably for the best if she was this distraught about it. She glanced up at him,

"I did?" she whispered, he nodded,

"I knew you were still in there General, I'm just glad to have you back sir," he said, she nodded, seeming to have calmed considerably.

"I'm still sorry, I'm just really glad I- well, whatever took me over didn't kill you,"

"You don't need to be sorry General, and I'm glad to be alive too," Esinon sunk back into her pillows.

"I'm gonna try and go back to sleep,"

"Ok, goodnight General," Dej said, saluting her before walking toward the curtain.

"Goodnight Dej," she replied, she rolled over so her back was to him, he closed the curtain behind him. He let out a long sigh, sometimes he really forgot that Jedi could feel things too. That they were people too, he guessed his General would be reminding him time to time. He returned to his room, hoping to fall back asleep, but he doubted he'd be able to since there were now too many thoughts running through his head.

* * *

**Sorry I'm late again, this chapter went under some heavy rewrites and tennis sectionals yesterday wore me out**

**Thank you to eagle eyes98 for helping me revise this chapter and make Esinon about a thousand times scarier! **

**I guess you could consider this chapter your Happy Spooky season from Windcaster **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: ****you know the 221st has mass bop it games to pass the time. Sabaac? Who's she, never heard of her, bop it is where it's at **

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	57. The New General

**A few weeks later…**

"Are you excited to be going back to Coruscant?" Jax asked, as the Duchess descended down to the surface. Esinon yawned,

"I'm just looking forward to sleeping," she replied, Jax chuckled,

"Whoa, you actually want to sleep?" he joked, Esinon rolled her eyes.

"We've been going at these missions non-stop for four months, I'm exhausted," she said, running her hands down her face.

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to the rest too," he said, Esinon nodded as she felt the ship jolt into the hanger. She could hear the hiss of the ship as it decompressed,

"Alright, let's go get everyone checked in," she said with a sigh, she called her datapad into her hand, "Come on Judy," the bunny droid bounded after her and Jax all the way down the catwalk while Esinon slowly checked everyone in as they made their ways to the transports heading to the barracks. A few hours later, the last troopers were loaded onto the transport, "Is that everyone?" she asked with a yawn, Jax nodded, "Ok, I'm going to head back to the temple,"

"I'll drive you, you look like you're gonna pass out," he said, walking towards a speeder, she nodded, too tired to argue. A few minutes later they had arrived at the temple and Esinon hauled her few belongings over her shoulder, thanked Jax, and started her walk to her new apartment. Since she had been deployed so quickly and for so long, she hadn't had time to meet her new roommate, or unpack her things. She finally arrived at her new apartment, fishing her keys out of her pocket. She unlocked the door and entered,

"Hello!" she called, a young woman walked out. She had dark, tan skin, and white facial markings. A bracket looking shape on her forehead and a similar marking on her chin, she also had two lines drawing down from the corner of her eyes. Speaking of her eyes, they looked so… familiar. She recognized that amber color.

"Hello," she greeted, "Are you Esinon?" Esinon nodded,

"Hi, Esinon Windcaster, nice to meet you," Esinon said, holding out her hand for her to shake. The woman hesitantly took it,

"Jayla Archer," she said,

"I would love to talk more but I really need to sleep," she said tiredly,

"Sure," Jayla replied skeptically, Esinon gave a tired nod before heading to her room. None of the boxes had been touched, left exactly where she had placed them over four months ago. Esinon sighed, not having enough energy to look for a blanket. Instead, she grabbed a cloak, wrapped herself in it, and collapsed onto her bed, falling asleep instantly.

**Back at the clone barracks…**

Jax collapsed in his bunk below Bo's, his face down in the pillow. He knew he would regret it later but he was too tired to strip off his armor. He felt Bo tug on his vambrace, effectively pulling it off.

"Did General Windcaster get back to the temple alright?" he asked as he carefully pulled all of Jax's armor off and stacked it in a neat pile. Jax nodded,

"Yeah, I drove her back and she walked into the temple. I'm sure she's fine," he murmured, as Bo pushed him up so he could pull off his chest plate.

"She looks like she hasn't slept in weeks,"

"Probably not," Jax murmured, "I saw her in the medbay during the night for at least the last week. Bev got injured, she barely left his side."

"For not liking the medbay, she sure does spend a lot of time in there," Bo replied, pulling a blanket over Jax.

"She looks out for us," he murmured, Bo nodded,

"Get some rest, I'm gonna go check on the others," Jax nodded as Bo turned off the lights and slipped out of the room.

**The next morning…**

Esinon rubbed her eyes as she fiddled with a teapot on the stove. She'd accidentally overslept, and by the looks of Jayla had been up for hours. But in her defense, Esinon had barely slept for the last few days. She finally heard the teapot whistling, she grabbed it off the stove and poured herself a cup. She glanced up at the sound of the door opening, and Jayla entered, holding a towel and a water bottle.

"Good morning," Esinon greeted, forcing a smile onto her tired face. Jayla gave her a curt nod,

"See you're not the early bird to catch the worm," she said, Esinon glanced down at her cup of tea, she forced a chuckle.

"Yeah, not exactly a morning person," she said, '_Well if you'd been deployed for four months non-stop you'd be exhausted too,' _"Just woke up a little late that's all," Jayla nodded again before leaving without another word, Esinon sighed, deciding to take her cup of tea to her room and start unpacking. Maybe she could slip back to Anakin and Obi-Wan's apartment and spend some time there instead of in here. It smelled unfamiliar in here, and it was stark. It wasn't like her old apartment, it looked like Jayla hadn't bought anything personal for the apartment, everything in here was Jedi issued. She sighed, disappearing into her room, hoping to make things a little more homely.

**A few hours later…**

"Haha!" Esinon cheered, "Full sweep, that's ten for me, zero for you," Spitfire stared glumly at the TV screen where his pod racer had crashed.

"I swear you're using the force," he grumbled as Esinon began another game,

"You say that every time Spitfire," Glitch said looking up from his book,

"Well she is," he grouched, Esinon chuckled,

"Or I've been watching pod races since I was five and these courses are all based on real ones," she said, using her controller to race her pod past four other people.

"Did you get moved into your apartment alright General?" Jax asked, grumbling to himself as Dej took once again a win in Dejarik. After all, it was what he was named for.

"Yeah, I don't think my roommate likes me very much though," she said,

"Who's your roommate?" Glitch asked,

"Jayla Archer," she replied, quickly racing her pod around another tight corner and chuckling as Spitfire crashed once again.

"Wait, isn't she the new General of the 673rd?" Jax asked, Esinon tensed,

"What?" she asked,

"The 673rd, General Krell's old legion, before he died in the battle of Umbara," Jax said casually, Esinon's shoulder blades tensed, her hands about to crush the controller in her hand.

"Krell didn't die in battle," she replied, her voice strained as she tried to keep from growling his name out.

"Well then what happened to him?" Spitfire asked,

"He betrayed us all," she snapped, "The Jedi won't tell you this because if it's found out one of their own fell to the Darkside and started aiding the Separatists, the media would have a field day and the Jedi's image would be ruined." All of the troopers glanced around at one another, "He killed hundreds of troopers, he doesn't deserve the 'honorable' death that the Jedi portray he had." They all went silent after that, Dej glanced from his General to the ground. A Jedi had betrayed them? Had toyed with their lives, it made him feel sick. He sighed, glancing back up at his General for a moment, she must have been there. He just wanted to know why a Jedi would ever do that.

**One week later…**

Supply drops. Supply drops were boring in her opinion, but they were necessary. They were about to be deployed again and if they were out for as long as they had been last time they were going to need these supplies… but she was still going to grumble about it. She groaned as another ship pulled down into the hanger,

"Another one?" she asked, Bo nodded,

"Yup, no rest for the weary I guess," he said, she sighed.

"Alright, let's get all of this stuff unloaded,"

"Oh, and General," Bo said, she glanced up from her datapad,

"Yeah?"

"Our next mission is with General Archer,"

* * *

Jayla didn't like her new roommate, and unfortunately for her, she now had a mission with the 221st. Esinon was far too young to be a knight and didn't have the experience necessary to lead a legion yet.

"Are you alright General?" Uno asked, worried at the permanent scowl that seemed to have set in upon Jayla's face.

"Fine," she replied, Uno nodded, backing up a little bit. She sighed, forgetting she couldn't be that cold with Uno without him getting anxious. Krell had really done a number on her Commander. "I'm sorry Uno, I'm just not looking forward to this mission, that's all," he nodded again,

"I'm sure it'll be alright General," he said, she chuckled,

"Your optimism is greatly appreciated Uno," their cruiser the _Vigilance _pulled up next to the _Duchess. _"Alright, let's get the transports loaded up." The men of the 818th dressed in aqua blue loaded into their transports and headed over to the Duchess, Jayla took a preliminary glance around the hangar of the Duchess, eyeing the mess of broken ship fighters and crates of supplies. "Looks like Esinon keeps her ship about as clean as her room," she muttered, the transport halted and she could see Esinon wearing the same grouchy expression that Jayla had been wearing for the last few hours. Jayla sighed, it was going to be a long mission. "General Windcaster," she greeted,

"General Archer," Esinon replied coldly, Bo and Uno glanced at one another. They were realizing that this mission was going to be unpleasant for all of them. "Command center is this way," Jayla suppressed an eye-roll, ship layouts were the same. She didn't need someone to show her the way. Well, she was wrong, the Duchess had a far different layout than the Vigilance. They passed another strange looking room, that was marked Cortex, she stopped for a minute watching as a long-haired clone ducked when a circular disk flew over his head.

A clone with purple hair and long mechanical arms leapt over the clone with the long hair and grabbed the disk that lodged into the wall. He then pulled out a tape recorder and began blabbering into while he examined the disk. She finally decided to leave it alone and followed after Esinon. They finally arrived at the command center, where a trooper with blue and yellow checkers on his armor handed Esinon a datapad. She scanned the document before giving him a nod of thanks, "Alright, here's what we got," she began, plugging in the datapad into the command pod. "The Separatists are moving towards armored based on Ryloth near Lessu. We aren't exactly sure why but our objective is to go there, survey the Separatists' activity, and then engage if necessary."

"And _only _if necessary," the Captain said, shooting General Windcaster a look. She smirked,

"Correct Jax, _only _if necessary," she said,

"And they needed two legions for this?" Jayla asked skeptically,

"It's a lot of Seppie activity," she said, Jayla sighed. So Esinon really had been doing this war thing since she was a padawan, she'd even adopted the clones' slang. Jayla was pretty sure that the clones had taught Esinon mando'a as well, she mumbled to herself in mando'a a lot. It was normally grumbling about Jayla, but she knew mando'a too. No, the clones didn't teach it to her. "Besides, we want to make a statement, maybe the seps will back off if they see we outnumber them."

"I doubt it," Jayla replied, staring down at the holo map. "If the Separatists have been ordered to destroy or take the bases, they won't stop. Besides, they have resources to expend unlike we do. Another three million droids were just ordered by the Separatists, this is most likely why they are even attacking the base, because they have resources to expel. Because strategically this attack doesn't even make sense." Esinon glanced from Jayla down to the holo-map.

"I guess… you're right," she conceded, "So you think we should be ready for a full-scale battle?" Jayla nodded,

"It's not going to be pretty, I would brief and prepare your men now," she said, Esinon nodded,

"Ok, I will… go do that now," she said, walking out of the room with her Commander close on her tail. Jayla watched her walk out, fiddling anxiously with her sleeves.

"She seems… flustered," Jayla murmured, "What was the council thinking?"

"Sir?" Uno asked, Jayla sighed,

"It's nothing," she replied, "I just wonder how ready General Windcaster is to lead her own men," Uno shifted from one foot to another.

"Permission to speak freely General?" he asked,

"Always,"

"I think General Windcaster is a capable leader, but I think that she's not used to having General Kenobi bolstering and guiding all of her decisions. The rug of having a mentor got pulled out from under her fairly quickly, which is why she seems… flustered," he explained, Jayla hummed,

"That does make sense… that's very insightful Uno, thank you,"

"Of course General," she could sense him smiling under the helmet. Even though they'd known each other for almost two years now, Uno was still warming up to her. Her men had been so cold to her before but granted she'd been cold to them too. She had a… difficult past with the clones.

"We should probably brief our men as well," she said after a moment. Uno nodded, and with that, the pair headed down to the hanger where the 818th was waiting."

**The surface of Ryloth…**

Jayla watched as the last of her men and Esinon's men were loaded out of the gunships and onto the surface. Esinon surveyed the area, there was nothing out here, just dry desert. It would be impossible to use her guerrilla style of fighting out here because there was nothing to hide behind. Out here she would have to face the Separatists head-on, which meant far more casualties. A head-on approach was Seppie home court, Esinon sighed. She was really getting a bad feeling about this battle. Jayla knelt down, pressing her fingertips to the surface.

"How's it looking, General?" Uno asked, Jayla glanced up at him.

"It may be a barren desert but there's a massive root system down there, it's time to level the playing field," she said, glancing at Esinon who was staring at her confusedly. "Your men might want to get next to the base, it's gonna get a bit… messy around here." Esinon raised an eyebrow but instructed her men to do what Jayla said anyway. Uno had herded the men of the 818th away as well. She took a deep breath, planting a foot firmly into the ground, drawing her arms close to her body.

She twisted her foot, in the dirt, pushing her arms forward and striking her limbs downward in an x formation. Roots erupted from the earth, rumbling and rippling like waves in the ocean.

Jayla pulled her arms upward, spinning her body around as the roots wove themselves together, creating a large forest around the armored bases. She continued her gracefully bending of the root system until she had finished her dense foliage creation. She brought her arms back tucked to her hips and let out a deep breath, opening her eyes. Esinon was staring at her dumbfounded, she assumed that Esinon's commander was wearing a similar expression under the helmet, judging from the way it was titling. Esinon's commander leaned down and whispered something to her, Esinon shook her head.

"No Bo, I can't do that," Jayla suppressed a smirk, she knew Esinon was too young for this. The elder Jedi walked back over to her Commander, trying, and failing to keep a smug look off her face. She glanced out among the forest she created,

"Esinon, let's go do some recon," she said, walking into the dense foliage, the young Jedi scampering after her. Jayla let out a sigh as Esinon used her speed to catch up, this mission was just beginning, and she'd had enough of Esinon. Jayla continued through the forest, watching warily and carefully bending vines out of the way if need be. Esinon seemed skittish, far too skittish. She needed to get in battle-ready if she was gonna lead, "Esinon, are you alright?"

"Fine," she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. Jayla rolled her eyes, eighteen-years-old and Esinon still acted like she was four. She sighed, trying to keep her negative thoughts out and release them into the force but so far it didn't seem to be working- Jayla flicked her hand on instinct as a blaster bolt ripped towards her head. Instantly a vine had appeared and caught the bolt. She drew her arms across her body, the vines following and she thrust them forward, grabbing a droid of the tree line and hurling it into another thick vine, shattering it to pieces.

"It's an ambush!" Esinon shouted, drawing her lightsaber and starting to deflect the onslaught of blaster bolts. Jayla twisted her hands around her waist, pulling roots up from the ground and attaching them to her legs. She thrust her arms upward sending her skyward, she pushed her arms out and down, and instantly a layer of the forest flattened and disappeared back into the ground.

She pinpointed each position of the droids and struck her arms up, bringing a vine stabbing through each droid with deadly accuracy. Esinon stared out at the decimated remains of the droids, starting to get very, very annoyed. Jayla couldn't even save her one. The elder Jedi rushed forward, still mounted upon her tower of vines, toward the droids that were emerging from the treeline.

She released herself from her tower, flipping over the back and kicking its head off. She flicked a finger, a vine came pummeling out of the ground, and grabbed a droid that was attempting to charge her. She threw that droid at least half a klick, Esinon attempted to join in the fight but Jayla used a vine to push her back and keep her in place, but that wasn't going to stop Esinon. She charged up her lightning, firing a bolt at the oncoming droids.

"Hey!" Jayla shouted, Esinon grabbed her lightsaber, slicing her way out the vines.

"You're not the only one who can do fancy stuff!" she shouted, cracking a whip of lightning at an oncoming droid, Jayla growled, pummeling another vine in four more droids. Esinon snarled, "so that's how you wanna play" She muttered, Esinon flipped over Jayla, clapping her hands together with immense force sending an electrified shockwave through the entire wave of oncoming droids. They all collapsed to the ground, leaving Esinon and Jayla standing, Esinon wearing a very smug look on her face. She dusted off her robes, reclipping her lightsaber to her belt.

"What are you doing!" Jayla shouted as she glared at Esinon,

"What? You're not the only one who can fight you know," she huffed, Jayla growled,

"This isn't a game, you're not equipped for this, you should have just let me handle it!" she replied,

"Excuse me?" Esinon asked, "I have been doing this since I was a padawan, I am perfectly capable thank you very much."

"Argh! You're so immature!"

"Immature? You think I'm immature? Have you looked in the mirror ice princess? You think you have to do everything by yourself and that I can't handle myself. Well, guess what, I was knighted younger than you so I guess the council doesn't agree with you!" Jayla barked out a laugh,

"They only knighted you because they couldn't knight anyone else," Esinon's stomach dropped, it was too soon. She didn't say anything more and stormed off back through the forest back to their bases.

"General, what happened? We heard blaster shots," Jax asked as she stomped back into camp,

"We got ambushed, I'm fine," she gritted out, not wanting to talk about anything that had just happened.

"Where's General Archer?" Jax prompted,

"I don't care," Esinon snapped before disappearing into the base. Jax sighed,

"So do you know what happened?" Bo asked,

"No, "Jax grumbled, "She's being stubborn as ever,"

"Well you should've known that she grew up around General most stubborn life-form to ever roam the galaxy," Bo joked,

"Not helping Bo," Jax grumbled, Bo patted his shoulder,

"Sorry, but you should just let her have her little temper tantrum and I'm sure she'll be back to herself in a couple of hours," he said, Jax sighed,

"Well, I hope you're right because I think there are a lot of droids headed our way,"

* * *

**Sorry this chapter is so short yall, I have like no motivation to write because I've got a lot of homework and I've been struggling lately. If anyone wants to PM me to help me brainstorm some ideas or some arcs in windcaster (I have some bases but not a lot of fleshed out ideas) that would be so spectacular **

**Anyways, I'm about as tired as Esinon is and I haven't even started my English homework, so that's fun. I like don't have motivation to do anything **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: ****Esinon one time tried to hold a mediation session with the 221st. It didn't end well, Bo actually did pretty well but that's only because he's an ARC trooper. Spitfire couldn't hold still. Glitch and Jax kept making each other laugh. Dej was trying really hard to focus but in doing that he didn't relax enough to actually have a good experience. She decided not to do that anymore**

**thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	58. Valhalla

**A few hours later…**

Esinon tightened her grip on her lightsaber as she listened to the pounding of droid feet nearing her. She scanned the treeline, rage still boiling inside of her. It had been hours since Jayla had said all of those things but Esinon kept replaying it over and over in her mind, along with those final words.

'_I need to figure this out on my own, without the council, and without you,' _Esinon's fingers clenched even more tightly around the hilt of her saber, each of the small mechanical pieces and designs that stuck out from her saber digging into her palm. She could hear the sound of blasters clicking in the treeline. She ignited her blade, deflecting a bolt that came from the treeline. A barrage of red blaster bolts emerged from the trees as the true battle began, blue blaster bolts were released from her side and began reflecting the bolts, nailing droid after droid, watching the first wave fall under Republic fire. She fell to a graceful halt as the blaster fire stopped for a moment but the instant the battle quieted it resumed, destroyers rolled out from the treeline, unleashing a barrage of fire. Esinon leaped into action, rage fueling her movements as a bolt of lightning erupted from her fingertips. She landed in a crouch on top of a destroyer and drove her electrified fist straight through to the droid's core, she grabbed the top of the droid, and in an impressive show of strength, she hoisted the droid over her head, chucking into the three destroyers left, demolishing them all. Esinon let out another growl as she spotted Jayla across the battlefield, the same image of Ahsoka walking down the steps of the temple pounded in her mind.

_Failure_

_Failure_

_Failure_

_You know she's right. _

_You aren't ready for this, _

Pain, grief, and regret washed over her in unforgiving waves. She ignited her lightsaber, slicing through droid after droid in rapid succession, deflecting any blaster bolt that came near her. She was moving across the field in a rageful dance, destroying anything that came into her eye line, all she could see was red. The battle ended with smoke and few casualties.

Esinon finally slowed, her panting filling the hum of a dying battlefield.

She glanced up at Glitch who was a few feet away, she put a hand to her hip but then winced as her hand hit her side, she could feel something warm and sticky covering her fingers. She slowly shifted her gaze to her hand and side, she could see blood covering her hands and robes, the world started to spin,

"General!" Glitch shouted, and that was the last thing she heard before the world went dark.

**A few hours later…**

Esinon groaned as the thudding in her head finally brought her back to the land living.

"Easy there General, you've got a nasty shot wound," Heart advised as she tried to push herself up, the younger medic gently guided back down onto the pillows. Esinon glanced around to find herself in the medbay on the Duchess.

"What happened?" she asked, shifting on the bed and around her hospital gown to a more comfortable position.

"You got shot, clean entry and exit point," he said, so that explained the bandages around her abdomen.

"Did we win?" she asked groggily, Heart chuckled,

"Yeah, we won, General Archer is finishing up some last-minute stuff on-world, and then she'll be back," he explained, Esinon sighed,

"And she'll probably tell the council what a failure I am," she grumbled to herself, thankfully Heart didn't hear her. Esinon took a deep breath, trying to quell her rising anger, just at the thought of Jayla.

"If you don't need anything else, I'm going to go help Boomer tend to some of the other injured," Esinon nodded,

"I'm alright, thank you, Heart," the medic nodded before leaving and closing the curtain behind him. Esinon dragged hand down her face, tugging her hand slightly as tension built up in the tube attached to the IV in her hand. She let out a frustrated growl, maybe Jayla was right. Maybe she wasn't ready for this,

"Injured again little runner? You're starting to become just as reckless as Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon remarked from the corner of the room, Esinon winced as she sat up slightly to see the ghostly form of the old Jedi.

"Master Obi-Wan? Reckless? A word I would use to describe Anakin, not Master Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon chuckled, pulling up a chair next to her bed.

"Obi-Wan was just as reckless as you when he was your age," he said, Esinon sighed, sinking back into the pillows.

"Must have not felt the shot, I'm fine though, I've been shot before," she mumbled, Qui-Gon,

"Since you're in a reflective mood, it's time for a more forward approach. Esinon what's wrong, I could feel your blinding rage through that entire battle, what caused it?" Esinon sighed, falling silent hoping that Qui-Gon would leave her alone about it if she wouldn't say anything. She was an adult, and could handle this on her own, she didn't need anyone's help. "Esinon, you're not gonna shut me out. Just tell me what's going on, is it about Ahsoka? I kept getting flashes of her," Esinon grit her teeth.

"Normally I would be able to brush off what Jayla said, because normally when someone takes a lash at me, it's not true, and I know that, and I can move on. But this time was different because she was right. They only knighted me because they couldn't knight Ahsoka, I don't deserve this title, and it's only a matter of time before my men find out and abandon me." Qui-Gon stared at the ground for a moment as Esinon fell silent once again.

"Do you remember what Obi-Wan said to you on your first day as a padawan?" Qui-Gon asked,

"Keep my head down and stick close?" Qui-Gon chuckled,

"No, the part about the force,"

"That the force guides people together," she replied,

"The force guides many things in our lives, not only us but the people around us, the events that happen to us." he began, "And even though this may be hard to hear, Ahsoka is being guided down a different path than yours. Where you are right now, is exactly where you need to be. There's nowhere to go from here but forward."

"Forward, huh?" he nodded, Esinon stared up at the ceiling. "Do you think the force is still guiding Ahsoka?"

"Oh I know it is little runner, the force is watching over all of us," he replied,

"And do you think Jayla was guided into my life?" she asked, glancing over at Qui-Gon, the elder Jedi hummed,

"Yes, I do. I believe that there is something that Jayla can provide for you and that you can provide for Jayla. Remember, you're a gray Jedi, there is balance in everything." Esinon nodded,

"It seems harder to control my emotions ever since I became a gray," she murmured,

"Well, you aren't finding balance. With the Jedi, you were forced to keep all of your emotions quiet, but now that you don't have to follow that anymore, you seem to have swung to the other side of the spectrum where you are releasing all of your raw emotions, you aren't finding balance. And you need to work to achieve that, you may let your emotions go, but you must also not let your emotions cloud your judgment like it did today. You need to find a medium,"

"Even though I've been a gray Jedi for almost a year now, it still feels like I know nothing about my people, or their teachings even though I've read the books I scanned thousands of times. I wish there was someone who could teach me," she replied,

"I'm afraid I can only offer the barest of what I know little runner," Qui-Gon said,

"I mean there has to be some more gray Jedi somewhere," she said, "It's a big galaxy, I can't be the only one left," Qui-Gon put a hand over her free one,

"I think you may be the only one left little runner, gray Jedi haven't been seen for thousands of years. Most of the Jedi have forgotten their existence,"

"Well isn't that just wonderful," she grumbled,

"Sorry little runner," he replied,

"Should have seen that coming anyway, I guess I'll just have to pave my own way," she said,

"That's the spirit, I know you can do this little runner," Qui-Gon said, Esinon nodded,

"Thank you Qui-Gon," she said softly,

"Of course little runner, I'm always right here, whenever you need me," and with that, Qui-Gon's ghost faded out of the room.

A few weeks later…

Esinon walked down the hall sleepily, her hand outstretched for the blast door panel to the command center, and instead of reaching the pad a cup of caf was deposited into her hand instead. She glanced up to find Jax standing next to her,

"Late night?" he asked, Esinon nodded,

"Trying to get ready-" she yawned, "For the supply drop today. Also, you know this does nothing to me, right?" Jax shrugged,

"Maybe you can trick your brain?" Esinon glanced at the cup of caf and downed in one gulp. Jax sighed, "That's not what I meant, but ok."

"I'm still tired," Jax sighed, glancing down at his datapad,

"And it looks like you don't have time for a nap in your schedule today, not that you'd take one anyways." Esinon gave a nod of acceptance,

"Alright, let's get our daily judgment from Admiral Sabella and then we can maybe find some peace and quiet in the hanger," she said, Jax chuckled,

"Peace and quiet is not something I associate with the hanger," he said, Esinon shrugged,

"If I can get into my ship, I will take nap, because I know me actually sleeping makes you happy,"

"It does indeed sir because for once you are taking care of yourself," he said, Esinon chuckled,

"Just make sure Bo doesn't find me or he'll become Mr. Grumpy pants again," Jax cocked his head,

"That does sound like Bo," he conceded, "I'll try and find you some cover," Esinon gave a nod of thanks as they entered the command center.

**A few hours later…**

Esinon blinked her eyes open, glancing groggily at the hanger below through the hatch of her starfighter. So Jax had bought her a few hours, she was surprised that she hadn't been awakened by the normal clamor of the hangar, guess she had been more tired than she thought. She scanned the troopers going about their business below, looked like Bo was nowhere to be found, hopefully, she could slip out and to her office before anyone took serious notice of her absence. She climbed out of her fighter, slipping into the background and passing by some crates.

She was about to keep going when a particular object caught her attention, a leather-bound journal was sitting on top of a crate. She paused debating whether or not to investigate further, eventually, her curiosity got the better of her and she grabbed the journal off the crate. She sat down on the crate, crossing her legs and opening the journal. She looked for a name but found nothing, she flipped another page in the thick journal and found a stunning watercolor painting. It was her. Someone had painted her, she was standing in the command center, a single beam of light descending upon her. She looked regal standing there, far more regal than she thought she ever did. She ran her fingers over the course paper, admiring the painting. A black splotch towards the bottom caught her eye, in fact, it wasn't a splotch at all, it was a name.

A jolt of excitement ran through her as she examined it further,

Valhalla. That was the artist's name, Valhalla. She flipped through a few more paintings before pulling a piece of flimsi out of her pocket and scribbled down a note on it.

_Come to my office, I really like your work a lot and I think I can help you create something on a larger scale if you'd like that. _

_ -General Windcaster _

She closed the journal with the note tucked inside and headed back towards her office, in the hopes that Valhalla would come and find her because she had big plans for his talent if he wanted to use it.

**A few hours later…**

"Did you find it?" Nico asked as he poked his head around a corner and spotted Valhalla holding up his journal.

"Yup, right where I left it, glad it wasn't gone," he replied, Valhalla tucked the journal into his belt and followed after Nico back to their barracks. He climbed up onto the top bunk, flipping his short dreadlocks out of his face. He stuffed his hand down into the crevice between his bunk and the wall, pulling out a set of watercolor paints. He then held out his hand towards Nico who deposited a canteen of water into it,

"Don't get too wrapped up in that painting of yours, I think we have training soon," Nico said, Valhalla gave an absent-minded nod as he dipped one of his few brushes into the water and then dipped it into blue paint. "Did you hear me, Val?"

"Yup, don't get too wrapped up because we have to go hit things soon, got it," Nico chuckled,

"I'm going to go check in with Lake, I'll be back later," Valhalla nodded again, as Nico patted his foot on his way out. Valhalla, lifted up his journal to inspect his work so far when a slip of flimsi fell out of the front of the journal. He stared at it curiously for a moment before setting his journal down and grabbing the flimsi. He opened it to find a note written on the inside, his heart skipped a beat for a moment. He hurriedly put away his painting supplies and sprinted down to General Windcaster's office, he skidded to a halt in front of the door and hurriedly knocked on it.

"Come in!" she called from the other side of the door, Valhalla opened the blast door and found her sitting on the other side of her desk. "Valhalla, hi! I was hoping you'd come and see me,"

"Um, well I- General, I found this note in my journal and I-"

"Yeah, here, I was thinking," she began, getting up from behind her desk and motioning for him to follow her, and he did, getting increasingly more nervous as he followed after his General. He was wondering if he was about to get in trouble for his art, she didn't seem that strict but he never knew. Clones were supposed to not have creative freedoms, well as far the Kaminoans were concerned. They finally came to a halt in an empty hallway. Valhalla had to stumble around her to keep from falling on top of her. He glanced down to see a stack of paintbrushes and some cans of paints, "the walls on the Duchess are really bland and depressing. And since you're art is absolutely stunning I thought you might want to paint here-"

"Yes!" Valhalla exclaimed without thinking, he instantly snapped his mouth shut, "Sorry sir," She chuckled,

"It's alright, I'm glad you're excited, I can't wait to see what you paint,"

"Thank you sir," he said, saluting her, she gave him a brief nod before walking back towards her office. Valhalla cracked open the cans of paint, he only had primary colors but that was all he needed. He sat down and set to work.

**A few hours later…**

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Glitch murmured staring up at the mural, it was a gorgeous painting of mountains and a forest on fire. Above that there was a ghostly woman, she was opening her arms welcomingly to the ghosts of clone troopers marching towards her. At the bottom of the painting were the words, 'Keep careful watch of my brothers' souls,'

"Yeah," Spitfire replied, "I wonder who painted it, or how,"

"Do you think General Windcaster knows?" Glitch asked,

"I think she's probably the one behind it," he replied, he glanced in the bottom right corner of the mural to see a name written out in beautiful calligraphy. Valhalla. Spitfire chuckled, "I thought that might be his handiwork,"

"Who?" Glitch asked curiously,

"This trooper I met during training, Valhalla. He painted that one famous painting on his armor, starry night I think it's called. He's always gushing over photos of old paintings, reminds me of Cam. Got a big brain that one,"

"Spitfire…" Glitch began hesitantly, "Who's Cam?" Spitfire sighed,

"Kid I knew back with Mundi," he said, "He was my best friend,"

"Is he…" Glitch started softly but broke off at the end, Spitfire shook his head,

"I don't know," Spitfire said after a harsh breath, "I can't get ahold of him," Glitch slid closer to his brother, wrapping an arm around him and Spitfire tucked his head under Glitch's chin.

"I'm sure we'll find a way to contact him," he reassured, Spitfire chuckled,

"Still ever the optimist aren't you," he murmured, Glitch hugged Spitfire a little closer,

"Someone has too,"

* * *

**Ok, so I'm being realistic here and Junior year is kicking my butt. Plus with all this Covid stuff, motivation is not very high right now. My point is that I think my chapters are going to start being a little short that way I can get more stuff out on time. Thank you for sticking around anyways, it really means a lot. **

**On a more positive note, I finished Legend of Korra and lemme say, very satisfying series all the way through. (I love old Zuko too, like he's run out of craps to give, and I loved when he was just sitting in some rinky-dink restaurant with Lin and Tonraq, and he just parked his dragon outside. Ya know, normal former firelord stuff) **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: Kaminoans: Jedi don't form attachments so don't expect them to become fond of you**

**Esinon's gray Jedi-ness: I KRIFFING LOVE YOU GUYS! WHOOOOOO**

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	59. Metalbenders

**A few months later…**

Things between Esinon and Jayla had still failed to get any better. They argued over anything and everything, and with the number of missions that 818th and the 221st were having together…. Jax was about to go insane. He couldn't stand all of their constant bickerings anymore, and things were only getting worse considering they were all stuck on the Vigilance for the next week. He groaned as heard more yelling and shouting, followed by angry footsteps. He shook his head, it was going to be a long week if those two kept that up. He glanced up from his datapad at footsteps,

"Jax, have you seen General Windcaster?" Uno asked,

"Listen for the sound of angry footsteps and you'll find her," Jax replied bitterly,

"So you're tired of it too?" Uno asked, sitting down next to him.

"Who isn't," he muttered,

"General Archer just has a… difficult personality is all, she's really nice once you get to know her," he assured, Jax sighed,

"Yeah, and I don't know if General hot-head will ever calm down enough to figure it out. I don't know what's gotten into her lately, she's not usually like this," Uno shrugged,

"Pressures of being a General I guess," Uno suggested, "After all she is still just a kid," Jax paused,

"Yeah, I guess so, I forget sometimes,"

"That there is pressure in leadership or that she's just a kid?" Uno asked,

"That's she's a kid, she just… seems so mature." there was another shout, "Most of the time," Uno chuckled,

"Well, I was wondering where she was because there's a cell that's broken and none of our mechanics can seem to fix it. She's pretty mechanically minded ao I thought she might be able to take a look." Jax nodded, rising to his feet,

"I'll go find her," he said,

"Thank you, Jax," Uno said appreciatively as the 221st Captain ducked out of the room, he headed down the hall searching for his General. He eventually found her and didn't spare much time to explain, instead he just grabbed her shoulder and started pushing her in the direction of the broken cell.

"Jac where are we going?" she asked,

"There's a broken cell that Uno wants you to take a look at," he replied, Esinon shrugged,

"Oh, you wanna help?" she asked hopefully,

"Sure,"

**A few hours later…**

"Ok, so it looks like this is mostly a problem with the ray shield generator," Esinon said peering into the mess of wires inside the panel on the wall outside the cell. "I just need to adjust a few things and it should be good to go."

"Really? You're fixing it that easily?" Jax asked, Esinon chuckled,

"You realize it's been a couple of hours, right? I'm not fixing it 'that easily'," she said, fishing around the inner workings of the cell. She hummed, "looks like I need to go inside the cell to fix this last part, can you come with me to hold some tools?"

"Sure," Jax replied, he grabbed the toolbox off the floor and followed her into the cell. She grabbed a hydro spanner and set to work on the opposite side of the panel,

"That should do it," she said after a few minutes,

"Great, because I'm hungry, let's find something to eat," Jax replied, rising from the metal slab that served as a bed in the cell. Esinon glanced back at the panel,

"Whoops, one more bolt I need to tighten…" she murmured, turning the wrench over the bolt once more. WHOOM, both of them whipped their heads up at the sound of the rey shield activating. "Uh oh,"

"That's not good," Jax murmured,

"Ummm, I can fix it," Esinon replied, hurriedly turning the bolt back the other way, instead of the shield falling like she had hoped the panel started to smoke and fizzle. She backed away, waving the smoke out her face as a fit of cough wrenched their way out her throat.

"So I'm guessing we're stuck in here for a little while?" Jax asked, Esinon nodded,

"Yeah, I'll take another look at the panel, hopefully, I can figure it out or someone will come looking for us." she said, kneeling back down in front of the panel and setting back to work. They lapsed into silence for about ten more minutes, when they heard footsteps approaching, Jax jumped up and pressed his fists against the rey shield,

"Hey! We're stuck in here!" he shouted, the owner of the footsteps finally came into view, General Archer,

"What are you doing in that cell Captian?" she asked, Jax sighed,

"Esinon was trying to fix it for you, per request of Uno, and the panel fritzed out-"

"We don't need your help Jayla," Esinon snapped, "Go away," Jax sighed,

"General Archer," he whispered, "Can you please just press the panel to the blast door, maybe it'll open,"

"Sure," Jayla replied grumpily, Jax winced at the sound of metal hitting metal as Esinon threw her wrench down violently in her toolbox. Jayla pressed the panel and the rey shield fell, Jax sighed in relief, grabbing the toolbox off the ground. Jayla entered the cell, blocking Jax's exit. "What are you even doing here?"

"I'm trying to fix your cell, you're welcome," Esinon grumbled bitterly, rising to her feet, her face and robes covered in grease stains.

"Well I think I can find someone who can do a better job than you, get out," Jayla demanded,

"No," Esinon said firmly,

"Now," Jayla snarled, before either Jedi could move again the rey shield activated again,

"Oh come on!" Jax shouted,

"Now look at what you've done!" Jayla grumbled, throwing a frustrated arm in the direction of the rey shield.

"You think this is my fault?" Esinon asked, "If you would have gotten out of the way instead of being all hostile we wouldn't be in this situation!"

"How mature, claiming I'm the hostile one. Have you looked in the mirror!" Jayla snapped,

"You're the one who needs to do some looking ice princess,"

"Would both of you stop!" Jax finally groaned, "I've been listening to your non-stop arguing for months now and I've had enough! You're arguing over literally nothing! Now like it or not, we are stuck in here until Esinon can fix the door, or someone comes looking for us,"

"Well I think Esinon should leave the door alone, a lot of good her messing with it has done us," Jayla said, sliding down against the wall, Esinon again threw a tool down into her toolbox,

"At least I'm trying to get us out of here,"

"You're doing a marvelous job of it," Jayla grumbled, Esinon slid down against the wall,

"I just hope someone comes and finds us soon so I don't have to keep listening to you- berate me," she mumbled, Jayla rolled her eyes as Jax sat down next to Esinon. They lapsed into silence as both women avoided one another's eyes, after a few minutes Jayla finally spoke up.

"Last time I was trapped in a cell like this it was because my brother and his psycho mentor captured me," Esinon let out a brief chuckle,

"Mine was when I got arrested for aiding in escape," she muttered, Jayla rested her head against the cool metal wall of the cell.

"Sounds like something you'd do," Esinon scoffed,

"I had a good reason," they fell into silence again, and then it occurred to Esinon that Jayla had said brother. She had said 'my brother',

"I didn't know you had a brother," she said, Jayla scoffed,

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me,"

"Well we've got time," Esinon said, sitting up, "let's start with your secret brother."

"And what makes you think I'm suddenly gonna reveal everything about my past?"

"Because I think you're a boring stiff and you like proving me wrong?" she suggested, Jayla rolled her eyes.

"My family… is complicated-" Esinon snorted,

"I think that comes along with being a Jedi stiff. I haven't met a Jedi who's family isn't complicated, I have a huge family, but only met my parents when I was fourteen, and a little sister was born and suddenly I almost have a family again."

"I need to know both of your life stories immediately," Jax said excitedly, Esinon chuckled as Jayla rolled her eyes.

"Fine," she muttered, "But none of this leaves this room," both of them nodded and Jayla took a deep breath.

"Well, as I said, family is complicated… not complicated in the way you think. My dad was a… bounty hunter. Thought he could settle down, get married, have me, but then when I was seven he up and left."

"Did he have a name?" Jax asked,

"He had your face," Jayla snapped suddenly, Esinon and Jax glanced at one another.

"So that means your father is Jango Fett…" Jax said slowly, Jayla nodded,

"My full name is Jayla Archer-Fett, my mom did take dad's name, but after I began a Jedi, I hyphenated and then stuck with just Archer. Fett isn't exactly a favored name around the Jedi," she said,

"That's why you looked so familiar when we first met," Esinon said, "Because you have the face of a clone,"

"I have the face of my father," she replied bitterly,

"So that makes your brother…. Boba," Esinon said slowly, "I don't think he really considers me family, but my father was Mandalorian and he can take whomever he chooses as a child,"

"But your Jango's only biological child," Jax said, Jayla nodded,

"Yeah, my mother was a togruta, hence the markings, I grew up on Shili,"

"And I'm assuming he had you before the clones were commissioned,"

"The timeline matches up," she said, "But I don't know if that's why he left, I don't care anymore. He's dead so I'll never find out and I'm not gonna waste time missing him because he never missed me,"

'Is that why you look at clones funny sometimes when they come up on you too quickly, or you're really sick, or-"

"Yes," Jayla interrupted, "Yes, even after all these years it is still off-putting to see the face of my father everywhere. Especially when it has tattoos or facial hair that I don't remember my father having,"

"I'll admit, yours is a little more complicated than mine," Esinon said, "How many times have you seen Boba?"

"A few," she said, "Once when he and Aurra captured me, then once he got arrested he kept asking to see me. I don't know why. But he's gone now too, I don't know where he is, but he's bitter dad is gone, and I don't exactly blame him."

"Boba seemed like he could be a decent kid," Esinon said, "just a lot of anger and nowhere for it to go,"

"So what about you?" Jayla asked, "What's your crazy life story?" Esinon shrugged,

"My family isn't as wild I guess, but I was raised by Ewoks for my first few years of life," Jayla's eyes went wide for a moment,

"You were raised by the little furry bears that live in the trees on Endor," she said, Esinon nodded,

"Yep,"

"Ok, you win," she said holding her hands up in surrender, Esinon chuckled, maybe Jayla wasn't so bad after all. Just needed a little help to loosen up, who would have known that being locked in a cell together would bring people closer.

* * *

"How long have they been doing that?" Bo asked, staring through the glass to a training room where the two Jedi Generals were hard at work.

"Hours," Jax replied, "General Archer decided a while ago that Esinon needed more mentorship or something," Bo nodded,

"She is still pretty young," he said, Jax nodded as he watched Esinon use the force to gather a stream of water and rushing towards Jayla but the younger Jedi was quickly thrown to the ground by the elder with a burst of wind. Esinon growled and leapt to her feet, using the metal brackets that were attached to her forearms and throwing them towards Jayla, slashing them viciously at her.

Jayla deflected each one but failed to notice Esinon sending a stream of water towards her back, the elder Jedi was pummeled to the ground by the water.

Esinon attempted to capture Jayla's legs with a metal bracket, but she was too fast, using the force to deflect the bracket and gracefully flip to her feet. Jayla attempted to make a charge for Esinon, but at the last second, Esinon froze the leftover water on the ground causing Jayla to slip and face plant onto the mats.

Esinon chuckled, flinging two more whips of water over Jayla's back and froze those too, successfully trapping the Jedi to the ground. Jayla wriggled around for a few moments before accepting defeat, and Esinon relinquished her hold. Bo's comlink buzzed,

"Bo," he answered,

"Commander, a new briefing just arrived,"

"For just us, or the 818th too?" he asked,

"818th as well sir,"

"Alright, I'll be to the command center in a few minutes," the com call cut out and BO pushed the door open to the training room. "Generals, a new briefing has just arrived," both women glanced back at him,

"Wonderful," Jayla said, "We'll meet you in the command center shortly Commander,"

"Thanks Bo!" Esinon called after him as he exited the room. Bo sighed, sometimes he could swap places with Uno.

**A few minutes later…**

Both Jedi arrived simultaneously at the briefing,

"Alright Bo, what do we got?" Esinon asked, Bo took a deep breath forcing himself not to get into an angry thought process. Sure Esinon seemed like a good enough kid, but she was a Jedi that was enough to set him off. He passed her a datapad,

"The Separatists put up a blockade around Dantooine, it has stopped any and all supplies from coming into the planet's atmosphere and there's been reported Separatist activity on the surface," he explained, Esinon hummed, pulling up a map of the planet's surface.

"Jayla, do you think you could handle the battle in the sky?" Esinon asked, Jayla nodded,

"Seems feasible enough, so I'm assuming you'll be taking the battle on the ground?" Esinon nodded,

"Flying's fun and all, but I prefer having my feet on the ground." she said, "I am a speedster after all," Jayla rolled her eyes,

"Yeah and ya know, for having a training room designed for that, you don't use it very much," she said,

"I do," Esinon protested, "I'm just so fast you don't see me," Jayla chuckled,

"Alright speed demon, you take the ground, now let's actually come up with a plan of attack,"

**A few hours later…**

Esinon crept slowly through the field listening to the steady crunch of the dry grass under her mens' boots as she scanned the expanding plains of Dantooine. She and Bo had split up, he had taken half the men to the south and she'd gone north. There hadn't been a single droid yet, it was quiet, too quiet. It was putting Esinon on edge, enough to keep her lightsaber in hand unlike she normally did. She raised her comlink to her lips,

"Bo, have you spotted anything yet?" she murmured,

"No," he replied a few seconds later, "It's all quiet down here, you?"

"There's nothing," she said, "It's really quiet, are you sure the reports for there being Seppie activity on the surface is correct?"

"Positive, they have to be down here somewhere, just keep looking," that the com call cut out, Esinon sighed,

"Well he is just in a spectacular mood isn't he," she grumbled to herself, they continued in silence it seemed they trudged onward for hours without so much the lone critter scampering through the field. Finally, Esinon spotted a metal dome in the distance, "Everyone look alive, looks like there's a base of some sort." They all headed forward and as they approached the base, she identified it as being Separatist issued but there weren't any droids around. Just like the rest of this planet, it was quiet, too quiet. Where were all the droids? The Separatists wouldn't have just abandoned this post without good reason, she shook her head.

She couldn't assume all the droids were gone, after all this was only the outside of the base, there was a lot of inside. "Step lightly, we don't know what we're walking into," She ignited her lightsaber and used the force to bend the door open, allowing them to enter the base. She peered around corners, ears perked for the nasal voices of B1s that should have been manning their stations, but it was silent.

The only noise was the tapping of boots. "Everyone fan out, see if you find anything," Jax flagged out teams of men throughout the base, and sent some back outside to guard the entryway in case any droids showed up. She and about thirty-six walked to the center of the base, there was still no sign of anything. "This isn't right…" she murmured-

BOOM!

An explosion ripped through the base, Esinon stared in horror as fire came barreling down the halls towards the middle of the room. There was no time to get out, to escape so she called on the force and put her hands, spinning around and bending metal into all the entryways.

A loud creak sounded as the base began to cave in, screams and shouts echoed around her. But she was not about to let more of her men die if she could prevent it, even if it killed her. The ceiling came crashing down but at the last second she caught it with the force, she grunted as the weight came crashing down upon her.

She pushed up, forcing her legs to stop trembling, unfortunately, she was not able to catch the entire ceiling and more shouts filled the room as they all crowded to the middle of the room while others worked to free their brothers from the metal plates.

Esinon shoved up against the metal again with the force, successfully creating a bubble that they could survive for a time. How long, she didn't know, but she was going to try to keep them alive as long as she could. She let out another small grunt, she could feel through the force that if she let go of the metal above them it would all cave in, there was too much pressure on top of the ceiling she was holding. "Is everyone alright!" she called, it felt stupid to ask such a question. Of course, they weren't alright, they were trapped in a tiny bubble with no one looking for them, while almost all of the men were dead, and half of them had just been nearly crushed by the ceiling she had failed to catch. There were murmurs of answers,

"Spitfire, Spitfire!" Glitch said panickedly, Esinon slowly shifted her head around, carefully not to jeopardize her hold on the ceiling above them. She quickly analyzed the situation, Spitfire was unconscious and judging by the faint pulse of his force signature, was badly injured.

"Glitch, come here," she said,

"What?" he asked, she grunted,

"Just do as I say!" she snapped, a small whine escaping from her lips as she felt the weight increase the smallest bit as she lost her concentration. Glitch obeyed crawling over to her. "I need you to take off my tabards, judging by Spitfire's signature he's injured. Now at this second the only thing keeping the blood inside his body is his armor, but that's not gonna help for long, those wounds need pressure. Now take my tabards and get pressure on those wounds," Glitch obeyed, removing her belt and taking off her tabards carefully before making his way back over to Spitfire. At the moment all she could do was coach Glitch through helping Spitfire and pray that someone would find them.

* * *

**This chapter was longer than I thought it was gonna and it's on time too! Even though fanfic didn't fix their stupid servers till today. **

**Anyways, what do you think of Jayla's past?**

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: You know that whenever the 221st is about to have a briefing and Esinon's coming down the hall and Glitch starts playing 'right hand man' from Hamilton through the speakers so Esinon enters the command center will HERE COMES THE GENERAL! pounding through the Duchess**

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	60. Metalbenders pt 2

Behind her, she could hear armor clasps being undone, "Ok Glitch, once you identify where the wound is, I need you to tell me what it looks like." Esinon was really, really hoping that there wasn't shrapnel in the wound, because that would be a large problem, and she had a feeling that Glitch would-

"General," Glitch whimpered, "There's metal in there," She let out a small breath,

"Ok, that's fine," she said, trying to stay calm, Glitch would respond to this better if she did. "So we're going to leave the metal in there-"

"What? Why?" he asked, Esinon let out another breath,

"Glitch, right now I need you to not ask questions, I need you to just do as I say," she said, trying to resist the urge to keep her voice from rising. "So we're not going to take the metal out, I need you to use my tabards and keep pressure on the wound," She turned her head slightly and could see Glitch pressing her tabards to the wound on Spitfire's lower stomach. So far as she could tell, it looked like it'd missed most of his vital organs, "There you go, just keep pressure on the wound, and I need you to tell me if it starts bleeding too badly."

"Ok," Glitch said shakily, Jax finally abandoned his task of caring for other brothers and shifted towards his batchmates. Esinon could already feel sweat pooling at the small of her back, it was warm and stuffy in the cramped space, and it was silent save for the quiet murmuring of Jax and Glitch, and the disconcerting noise of the creak of the ceiling above them.

It felt like hours and the silence set in and Esinon had simply fallen into praying that someone would come looking for them. They couldn't get a signal to contact anyone, so they were stuck in here for as long as Esinon could keep holding the ceiling above their heads. She glanced behind her as she heard movement and saw Jax moving toward her. He didn't say anything for a moment,

"How's Spitfire?" she asked, he again didn't say anything, he leaned forward, pressing his forehead to hers, hoping that she could somehow draw strength from the action. Esinon leaned into the contact, able to feel Jax's calm force signature pulsing, giving herself something to anchor and focus on. She at the moment didn't have the energy to be able to block out any of the swirling force signatures around her and currently Jax's was the only calm one. She let out a small breath, able to feel a small bit of strength filling her.

"And to answer your question, the bleeding is slowing," Jax replied, giving her a small smile, as a breath of relief escaped from Esinon's lips that she didn't know she'd been holding.

"That's good, I'm sure someone will find us soon," she said, trying to be a reassuring power for everyone in here, she needed to be that for them as General. They couldn't know how terrified she was that no one was coming for them.

* * *

Bo had decided it was time to pack it up and head back to the Duchess, there was nothing down here beside grasslands and the rare scampering nuuna. His comlink beeped and he answered,

"Commander Bo," he answered, a holographic image of General Archer appeared,

"Commander, how goes it on the surface?" she asked,

"There are no droids down here sir," he replied, "The grasslands are completely empty, we've been looking for hours General." Jayla hummed a hand going to her chin, a move that Bo recognized as his own General's.

"It was the same up here, not a single droid ship," she said, "Have you been able to raise Esinon on her comm? I haven't been able to get a hold of her, I'm afraid if there are no droids with us, they might have gone to her position."

"No General, General Windcaster has not contacted me for some time," Jayla frowned,

"Try and com her again, I'm coming down to the surface," she said, and with that, the com call ended. Bo changed his frequency to General Windcaster's and attempted to raise her on any channel but had no success. He was starting to wonder if General Archer's theory was correct, he wasn't worried about General Windcaster, he was worried about the men under her command. Sure, they had been a so-far successful legion for the GAR, but she was still an inexperienced General and would be prone to making bad decisions, especially with the reputation she'd picked up for her crack fire plans. A few minutes later General Archer arrived with Uno and a platoon of the 818th's men.

"Have you been able to contact her?" she asked, although Jayla wasn't showing it, she was starting to become very antsy that Esinon wasn't answering. Bo shook his head,

"No sir, she isn't answering," he said, Jayla's frown deepened, her markings creasing on her forehead.

"She went north, correct?" Bo nodded,

"Alright, men!" she called, "form on me, everyone step lightly we don't know what we're walking into!" All of the platoons formed up and followed after Jayla as they headed north, they were once again silent and as they marched forward, they still saw nothing. No droids, not even a B1 shaped footprint, there was no sign of Separatist activity anywhere- there was a plume of smoke in the distance. Bo knew the difference between one that came from a burning village and one that came from an explosion. Jayla began sprinting forward and came to a skidding halt at the top of the hill, Bo joined her and saw the burning remains of a Separatist base. There was no sign of a struggle outside of the base, only its smoldering remains. Jayla reached out with her sense and could feel Esinon's force signature pulsing inside, she stretched further and could feel clones in there as well. "There are survivors," she said suddenly,

"How?" Bo asked, "There's barely anything left of the base, anyone inside there would have been crushed!"

"Never, underestimate a Jedi, Commander," she said, Bo clenched his fist as he watched General Archer sprint down the hill.

He hated Jedi.

Jayla finally made it to the bottom of the hill, taking a knee in front of the wreckage and pressed her fingertips to the charred soil, closing her eyes and mentally mapping the root system she could feel beneath her. This was going to be complicated, she could sense that ceiling about to give way, and it was only being held up by the barest of threads. Any wrong moves and she would crush the survivors.

She stood, taking a deep, putting her hand's palm downward, facing the ground. She dragged her boot through the dirt in a semicircle, she gracefully raised her hand and the roots started to creep out of the ground. She gently placed them on the outside of the wreckage. She needed to establish a stable hold before she was able to open the wreckage so that everyone could escape.

* * *

Esinon wasn't sure if she was hallucinating or this was actually happening, there were roots starting to creep through the cracks of the metal and Esinon could feel her load getting lighter. She didn't dare let go of the ceiling yet, but Jayla was here! She could feel her force signature pulsing in concentration and focus outside. She waited more and more roots started to appear and murmuring went through the small band of clones who were starting to shift away from the walls.

"General…" Jax began slowly, "What's happening?"

"Jayla is here," she said in relief, the metal creaked as it was raised higher and higher. Esinon started pushing up as well, her legs quaking from exhaustion and the sheer weight of the wreckage above. But with two Jedi at work, it was moving quickly, a few seconds later, Esinon let out a cry as she threw the final of the wreckage of the ceiling a few hundred meters. She then used the force to obliterate the walls as well. Cold air rushed into the bubble they had been trapped in, Esinon arms went slack as the real aches of her body began to set in. "We're gonna need a medic down here!" Esinon called, "Spitfire's got shrapnel," She spotted Boomer and Heart coming down the hill and to where Spitfire was still laying on the ground with Glitch hunched over him and staunching the bleeding.

"You did a good job Glitch," Boomer said, Esinon assumed Spitfire wasn't out of the clear yet, since Boomer left out the 'you saved his life' part. Esinon slowly made her way out of the bubble, finally able to take count of who was left. Two platoons were gone, and only half of the final one was left. She slowly sank to the ground, too tired to keep standing. She was covered in sweat and ash, and she could feel the grief swirling around her in her men. She had failed.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I led us into a trap, I failed," Jayla had noticed that Esinon was kneeling a ways off, and by the swirling of emotions she could feel in Esinon's emotions, the young knight was overlooking the men she did save. Jayla walked over and Esinon glanced up at her as the elder knight sat down in front of her. Jayla didn't say anything, she was bad at saying something.

It seemed most things that came out of her mouth were angry and brash, and she didn't want to make anything worse so she stayed silent and instead attempted to support her through the force. Esinon's signature seemed to calm for a moment, feeling the reassuring anchor of Jayla's peaceful presence but it didn't last long as rage ripped through her.

Jayla backed away as she felt the anger in Esinon's force signature, Esinon hunched over like she had been shot as she gasped for air. It felt like when Slick had found out that she had purchased him and Dogma from the Kaminoans, he was so angry he could have killed her. Someone was that angry now.

Jayla quickly figured out that the anger wasn't coming from Esinon and started stretching out to the people around them and recoiled when she started to search Bo's force signature, it was only pure rage and loathing. All directed at Esinon. Jayla grabbed onto Esinon's shoulder and focused on inducing the young knight into sleep, or at least a meditative state.

Esinon was too exhausted to be able to block out force signatures at the moment, and it would be easier to handle it if she was asleep. Jayla succeeded in her task as Esinon slumped underneath her hand, Jayla let out a small breath, taking a moment to collect herself.

"General Archer," Glitch said slowly, "Is General Windcaster alright?" Jayla nodded,

"Yes, I've simply given her a strong sleep suggestion, she needs to rest," she replied, Glitch nodded worriedly, the poor trooper looked exhausted. "Tell your Commander to set up camp, there isn't time to move us all back to the cruisers, night is already upon us,"

"Yes sir!" Glitch snapped to a salute and went over to Bo and explained what Jayla wanted him to do. Bo nodded and instantly started ordering the men around. Jayla carefully picked up Esinon, hoping to do a self-check for injuries on Esinon or get Sweet to come to look the young knight over. She had no idea how Esinon was faring after the ordeal and simply wanted to make sure she was alright.

Jayla found a small secluded area and used the roots to create a small tent. She checked Esinon over for physical injuries, not finding anything. After doing a mental check on Esinon, she could tell that the best thing for Esinon was to sleep so she ducked out of the tent to check in on the other injured and her own men.

**A few hours later…**

Bo had been working for hours now to pull bodies out of the wreckage of the Separatists base. He was silent, it smelled like ash and dead bodies, and it was soaking into his skin much as it had after so many battles, where he had silently collected the bodies of his brothers.

He heard someone coming up behind and Bo didn't spare the glance, but he could hear plastoid clanking against plastoid and assumed that someone was beginning to move the bodies to a pyre. It was one of those rare times where they had time to remember their fallen brothers.

'_This never should have happened in the first place,' _a small voice whispered in the back of his mind. Bo's fist clenched into a tight ball as he tried to contain himself. He was about to grab something to throw it when he heard someone come up behind him and put an arm around his shoulders.

His head dropped slightly as Glitch pressed his head against Bo's shoulder bell.

Bo leaned gratefully against his brother, some of his anger melting away, but certainly not all of it. He was angry, sad, and confused, and exhausted. He didn't have the energy to do anything anymore. A lone tear escaped from his eye, sliding down his cheek into Glitch's pink hair. Glitch nestled a little closer, almost able to sense his brother's grief.

"Come on," Glitch whispered, "let's just go back to the pyre, we've found everyone, they'll be moved by someone else, you've done enough." Bo didn't process Glitch moving him away from the wreckage, or anything that was happening until they arrived at the unlit pyre. Bo pulled away from Glitch and disappeared into the crowd of brothers, he didn't want to be comforted, he wanted to be angry.

* * *

Esinon had finally woken up from her Jayla induced nap and was now sitting outside the small root tent looking out over the quiet fields of Dantooine. She felt nauseous. Sick with guilt.

'_Why do I always have to live,' _she thought bitterly, she pulled her knees to her chest, resting her chin on top of them. She let out a harsh sigh, her throat closing up with tears. She buried her face in her knees, taking a deep breath. She didn't glance up at the footsteps that sounded behind her, she could simply tell it was a clone by the heavy footfalls.

"General?" Jax asked,

"Please go away Jax, I just want to be left alone," she said, refusing to let her voice become any tighter than it already was.

"Nope, come on, no more moping," he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her to her feet.

"I'm not moping," she pouted, as Jax pulled a blanket around her shoulders.

"None of that was your fault," he said after a moment, Esinon stared at the ground.

"Yes it was Jax, all of those men are dead because of me," she whispered,

"Well as one of the men who is still alive because of you, I can tell you that I'm grateful."

"But what about all the men that are dead!" she shouted, "What about them? Those are your brothers, and it's my job to keep them safe, and I failed! WHAT ABOUT THAT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!" Her harsh and angry breathing filled the space between them, Jax stared at her, searching her grief-stricken eyes.

"Did you plant the bomb?" he asked, Esinon's shoulders dropped for a moment from their tense position.

"What?" she asked,

"The base, did you, Esinon Windcaster, rig it to explode?"

"What? No, of course not,"

"Then I don't see how it was your fault, the Separatists killed my brothers. Not you," he replied calmly. Jax was used to losing brothers, was he devastated over how many died today, yes, but he wanted to make sure Esinon knew that this was in no way her fault. She'd saved so many, risking her own life to do so. Esinon couldn't think of some way to argue, she knew Jax was right deep down, but knowing she couldn't save everyone still hurt. "Come on, I want to show you something,"

Esinon followed after her Captain back to the pyre, it had finally been lit and the clones had all circled around it. She froze for a moment, but Jax grabbed her hand squeezing tightly and leading her to stand in the circle. She was squished between Glitch and Jax and looking out upon her men as some of their eyes shifted to her, she couldn't feel any hate or upset directed towards her. She still kept her hand clasped in Jax's, feeling she might run if she didn't have something to anchor her. She glanced over at Valhalla who was standing next to Nico,

"Jax, what's going on?" she whispered,

"Just listen," he said softly, Esinon went silent again, she could sense whatever was about to happen was going to start. She glanced over at Nico, he took a deep breath, and then he began to _sing. _

"Oh, misty eye of the mountain below," he began, his voice was crisp and clear, each note floating out into the night. "Keep careful watch of my brother's souls, and should the sky be filled with fire and smoke, keep watching over my vod." the other clones began to join in as well. They were all in perfect sync, the harmonies and diversity in their voice filled the air. Esinon's slouched and timid posture rose with the music as she looked around in curiosity at her men as Valhalla picked up the next verse.

"If this is to end in fire, then we should all burn together. Watch the flames climb high into the night. Calling out father, oh, stand by and we will. Watch the flames burn on and on the mountainside." The song continued and Esinon let herself rest in the music, listening as different men sang the verses and the notes became more and more powerful as their voices rose. She could hear both Jax and Glitch singing next to her, and Dej not far off. The music built into a new clone taking the verse, his voice high into the top of the tenor range.

"Now I see fire! Inside the mountains! I see fire, burning the trees, and I see fire, hollowing souls, and I see fire, blood in the breeze. And I hope that you remember me," they fell back into the soft harmonies between each verse. Esinon could see tears starting to fall from a few of her men's faces, but there was no shame in them. This place was safe. Glitch picked up the next verse, squeezing her hand a little tighter.

"And if the night is burning I will cover my eyes. For if the dark returns then my brothers will die. And as the sky's falling down, it crashed down into this lonely town. And with that shadow on the ground I hear my people screaming out, I see fire!" the rest of the clones joined in,

"Inside the mountain! I see fire, burning the trees. And I see fire, hollowing souls. And I see fire, blood in the breeze. I see fire," Nico took the forefront again,

"Oh you know I saw the burning!" he sang passionately, the tears visible on his face in the flickering firelight.

"And I see fire," the rest of them echoed,

"Feel the heat upon my skin,"

"And I see fire!"

"Burn on and on, the mountainside," the air went silent once again, she heard the quiet mando'a remembrance prayer she'd said herself so many times and then a chorus of names. She felt… better. They had let her into their safe place, see their ritual. They weren't angry at her, not in the slightest. She was just… thankful that they trusted her as they did.

**A few days later…**

Esinon didn't feel guilty about falling into the trap anymore, she realized now that in hindsight, there was nothing she could have done differently. She could only focus on who she did save, which included Glitch and Jax, whose company she enjoyed very much. Spitfire had unfortunately contracted an infection and was now in a medically induced coma. Boomer had said he would most likely pull through, and just needed the time in the coma to heal. Esinon had never seen him so still.

Currently, she wasn't thinking about that, she was focused on the task at hand, which was to not let Bo's fist pummel her. She needed a sparring partner, and Bo had enthusiastically volunteered.

A small crowd from their training group had formed on the outskirts of the mats. She leapt out of the way as her Commander sent a kick flying her way. She attempted to lunge for him but the ARC gracefully dodged the move.

Esinon rolled to her feet and raised her fists, Bo wasn't going easy on her. She leapt upward, bringing down a kick but Bo caught her foot and whipped her around his body, and threw her to the side of the room.

She shook her head and jumped to her feet, charging Bo head-on and at the last second, sliding onto her knees and through Bo's legs. She grabbed his calf and flipped him over, he grunted as he tried to roll to his feet, but she was faster and jumped on top of him.

She jabbed her knee into his diaphragm and pinned his arms to the floor, hoping that he would yield. He didn't, he wheezed for a minute as she dug her knee further into his diaphragm.

Instead, he looped his leg around her back and turned the tables pinning her underneath his weight. She growled as Bo's face turned into a snarl, she decided she did not want to lose this spar so she headbutted Bo, causing the ARC to stumble backwards clutching his face. Esinon flipped to her feet and charged him, taking high-speed jabs at his body.

She whipped around, nailing a kick into Bo's abdomen. She leapt back with her fists raised as Bo stumbled back. He spun on a dime and the look that crossed Bo's face was pure rage, her position faltered for only a second as the pang of anger crossed her force signature coming from Bo. She wasn't able to duck out of the way as Bo tackled her to the ground, she grunted as he grabbed her roughly. A small whimper escaped her lips as Bo's large hands squeezed her wrists. She could feel his fingernails digging into her skin.

She attempted to grab at him but to no avail, she finally used the force to shove him off of her. She rolled away to a safe distance clutching her arms to her chest. She laid on the ground for a moment, struggling to find her balance.

There was anger flooding her being and it wasn't hers. She shuddered, curling into a tight ball trying to find balance, she forgot for a moment that she was supposed to be sparring. She rolled over to get to her feet but she saw Bo leaping above her, his fists raised above his head to deliver the final blow. She yelped and curled into a tight ball falling into a phase. She felt Bo's hand go through where her body had just been.

"Bo!" Jax shouted, the Commander snapped out of whatever trance he was in and backed away from his General. Esinon slowly dropped out of her phase and shakily stood to her feet plastering a fake smile to her face, clutching her wrists to her chest. She didn't want anyone to see the blood trickling down the crescent-shaped scratches on her skin.

"That was a good spar Bo," she said, refusing to let her voice shake. "Guess you win," he didn't say anything, instead he stormed out of the training room. Jax glanced at Esinon whose face had fallen and she was staring wide-eyed at the floor.

"Everyone clear out," he commanded, his Captain side taking over. He was usually the more passive of his squad, but Glitch had said he was like a whole other person when his 'captain side' took over. The troopers in the room left as they were told and Esinon remained frozen in place, Jax's eyes went wide as he spotted red stains beginning to cover her fingers. "General, let me see," he said, holding his hand out to her as soon as he was close enough to her. She backed up a step, giving him a fake smile.

"I'm fine," she said quickly, "just tired,"

"Don't, give me your arms," he said sternly, she just stared at his gloved hand. "Esinon, please," the use of her name finally got her attention and she handed over her arms. Jax shook his head, examining the small crescent-shaped marks. They were deep enough that there was blood now staining her fingers and arms, it wasn't anything that bacta couldn't fix but it was too far.

"Jax, what did I do?" Esinon asked, her voice wavering, she sounded like a scared kid that he would meet on sieges after a village had been destroyed and kids were looking for their parents. "I can fix it, I promise. Please, just tell me what I did I can fix, I promise, I'm sorry." Jax stared at her, searching her scared eyes.

"C'mere," he said, pulling her into a tight hug. "Listen to me, you didn't do anything wrong. I don't know why Bo is acting like this, but I'm going to find out," He finally let go of her, "Just go and see Boomer please, alright? I'll come and check on you in a little bit." Esinon conceded with a nod and started out of the training room, as soon as she was out of earshot he pressed his comlink. "Dej, can you make sure General Windcaster makes it to the medbay please?"

"Why? Is she alright?" Dej asked,

"She's gonna be, just needs a bit of bacta. By the way, have you seen Bo?" he asked,

"I saw him go into the locker room in a huff," Dej said, "Is Bo alright?"

"He's fine," Jax said, forcing himself to not let the anger and frustration creep into his voice. "Just need something from his is all,"

"Ok, I'm gonna go find General Windcaster,"

"Thanks vod," Jax said, ending the com call. He headed down to the hallway where he could hear a lot of banging and slamming of lockers. Jax was fuming at this point, what had gotten into Bo? He'd noticed his cold behavior towards General Windcaster for the past few days, but he'd been cold to General Windcaster ever since he met her. He stormed into the locker to find Bo by his locker. Jax slammed the locker shut, he grabbed Bo's blacks and slammed his against the lockers. "What the kriff is wrong with you!" he snarled,

* * *

**Hey yall! Sorry I'm late, it's been a hectic week. **

**So I hope you liked this chapter! And I hope the sparring scene was alright, because ya know, fight scenes are hard to write.**

**the song is I see fire by Ed Sheeran but I listen to the a capella cover by peter hollens to get the effect of this scene. **

**next up on let's make this canon corner: for spitifre ****everytime the hyperspace warning alarm goes off Sptifire dances (bases off that one vine lol with the fire alarm bc that was big Spitfire energy) Most of these might turn to vines bc I'm running out of canon corners **

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	61. Past Generals

"What's wrong with you!" Bo snapped, grabbing Jax's wrist and attempting to push his brother off of him, but it didn't take. Jax slammed Bo against the locker again, pressing his forearm against Bo's collarbone.

"What has gotten into you lately! All you've been is cold to General Windcaster, and I never said you had to like her, but injuring her?"

"She's a Jedi, she's fine," Bo snapped,

"She's human, she can get injured!" Jax exclaimed in exasperation, "You have to remember you're bigger than her, you could have seriously injured her. You are kriffing lucky that it's not worse than it already is. Show a little restraint here Bo,"

"She wouldn't hold back with me," he said, "She's a Jedi, Jedi don't hold back,"

"She used the force twice! And it was when you were gonna hurt her!" Jax shouted,

"They hurt me first!" Bo shouted, Jax backed off for a second.

"What?" he asked quietly, Bo stared at him for a moment,

"It's nothing," he said, pushing Jax off of him and trying to collect his stuff and leave.

"Come on Bo, don't do this, please talk to me." Jax pleaded, "I know it's been hard for you coming back to having us, but please don't just shut us out again."

"I said I don't want to talk about it," Bo said, stuffing his towel back in his locker and starting to put on his armor.

"Bo," Jax said sternly, "You need to tell me if this is going to be a continued issue with General Windcaster. I can't risk you hurting her again if there's something that can be dealt with." Bo snapped his armor into place, ignoring Jax. "Bo," Jax said, his tone softening. He took a knee in front of his brother, "Please tell me, you're miserable and angry all the time, and if there is something that I can do to help, I'll do it but you have to tell me." he pleaded, Bo let out a harsh breath, his fingers tracing over his scars. "What happened?"

"It's… I-" Bo began shakily,

"Is it something to do with your scars?" Jax asked, Bo nodded weakly, his anger finally starting to melt away.

"A… a Jedi did this to me," he said quietly, "He killed hundreds of brothers, thousands maybe I don't know. It was… Umbara. His name was Krell and he took over for General Skywalker halfway through the siege. At first, I thought Krell was simply strict because I was used to having more freedom as an ARC and General Skywalker trusted me. But then the plans started becoming more flawed, and suicidal, more and more of us dying and wounded. Kix ran out of supplies and wasn't able to tend to the wounded, we had to leave so many behind." Bo's voice wavered as he pinched the bridge of his nose and took a shaky deep breath. "Krell betrayed us, he betrayed all of us and slaughtered so many. But before that he had to make sure we felt inferior, he only called us by our numbers and for a while, I forgot what my own name sounded like. Then… it happened. Krell turned us against a platoon from the 212th under the ruse that the enemy had seized weapons and armor, and… we killed our own," Jax stared at the floor, his hand clenching over Bo's knee as he could feel Bo shaking under his grip. "Rex then decided that it was time to remove Krell from command, but it cost us, he killed and taunted… and I got too close." Jax glanced up at Bo's face, ragged scars covering his right cheek. Jax had always assumed that Bo had gotten into some sort of tussle with an animal and had never bothered to ask where the scars had come from. "I thought I had the jump on him, but... he slashed me with his claws. Kix said I was lucky to have survived the encounter," Jax sat up a little bit and pulled his older brother into a hug, holding him tight.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, Bo buried his head into Jax's shoulder, gripping his brother tightly.

"I-I can't trust Jedi anymore, I can't do it, they'll hurt us. She'll hurt us, she'll kill us and she has, she led you there! We can't trust her," Bo said his voice rising, Jax started gently running his fingers through Bo's hair,

"Shh," he murmured, "It's alright it's gonna be ok,"

"No, no it's not," Bo said, pulling away, "We can't trust her, ever. It's just a matter of time before she kills all of us!" Jax grabbed onto Bo's shoulder,

"Bo, look at me." Jax said, "I was in there with General Windcaster, she did not know what was about to happen, but she saved many of us. She isn't what you think she is, she's not going to hurt you. I promise."

"You can't," he whispered weakly, "I can't lose you to her,"

"You're not going to," he said softly, he gently pressed his forehead to Bo's, and he could feel Bo squeezing his forearm tightly, "you are not going to lose me to General Windcaster,"

"Please don't say that you don't know, I thought a Jedi would never but then he did." Bo pleaded,

"Shh," Jax murmured, "Take a deep breath please, it's going to be alright," Bo let out a feeble whimper,

"I can't trust her, she'll hurt us, "Jax knew that there wasn't a way to calm down Bo at this point, and with this new information he knew that it would take a long time for Bo to ever trust Esinon. All he could see was her lightsaber and the fact that she was Jedi, not the person she was underneath.

* * *

General Windcaster had gone to the medbay like she'd been told and Dej was standing in the doorway making sure that she stayed there as Jax had asked. He was curious as to why she would have to go to the medbay after a spar, must've been a heck of spar if she needed in the medbay.

Boomer shifted out of the way of Dej's eye line and he was finally able to get a look at General Windcaster, there was blood drying on her forearms from small crescent-shaped scratches on her arms.

He rose a little more curious as to what had happened, Boomer grabbed a towel and started cleaning the wounds and Dej was close enough to hear what they were saying to one another.

"So do you wanna tell me how this happened?" Boomer asked, inspecting the scratches as he cleared the excess blood on her arms. Esinon opened her mouth as if she was to say something but nothing came out, she just stared up at her medic with pleading eyes so that her medic wouldn't question her any further. "Ok, we'll talk about it a little later," Esinon nodded as Boomer applied bacta and wrapping bandages around her forearms. "I want you to take these, and go to your quarters to sleep. Take this too, I don't want you getting cold," he said, giving her an extra blanket and two white pills. She knocked the pills back dry and Boomer grumbled to himself handing her some water. "You really have to quit doing that," she offered him a small smile as she got off the bed and headed out of the medbay,

"Thank you, Boomer," she said softly, the medic nodded. She gave Dej a tired nod as she walked past as he offered her a salute. Whatever had happened had clearly taken an emotional toll on her, he wondered if he could ask Jax what had happened because he had most likely been there. He was simply worried about her, it wasn't often she looked like that, the only other time he'd ever seen that kind of emotional exhaustion from her after their most recent battle. He pressed his comlink and called Jax, the comlink blinked but no connection was ever made, he frowned. It was unlike Jax to not answer so he tried again, still nothing. Maybe he was still with Bo, so Dej headed in the direction of the locker rooms. He pushed open the door,

"Bo, Jax!" he called,

"We're over here Dej," Jax responded, Dej followed the sound of his brothers' voices and found Bo sitting on a bench, a fist pressed to his forehead and Jax on a knee in front of him.

"Are you guys ok?" Dej asked tentatively, Bo let out a harsh breath,

"I thought I should wait for Spitfire to do this, but… I don't when he's gonna wake up. Why don't you go get Glitch," Bo said, Dej nodded and turned to go find his brother. They both returned a few minutes later and Jax motioned for them to sit,

"Bo, what's going on?" Glitch asked,

"Yeah, I wanted to know what happened to General Windcaster, but now I'm getting worried about the both of you," Dej said, crossing his arms over his chest. He wasn't really appreciating how cryptic his brothers were being,

"Just… listen please," Bo said, "If you're wondering what happened to General Windcaster, I injured her in anger," Dej opened his mouth to say something but nothing did. How could he? "I know… but I-"

"Bo had his reason, and we're not excusing the fact that he did it, but it's not going to happen again." Jax said, "But Bo is going to explain why the incident happened in the first place." Bo once again explained the proceedings of Umbara and how it had now misplaced his trust in Jedi forever, he still couldn't look General Skywalker in the eye.

Bo had wondered if it was partly why his General had transferred him shortly after the Zygerria mission. Bo had liked General Skywalker, but he hadn't thought Jedi were capable of what Krell had done.

That had brought him to the realization that any and all Jedi could come to that, would come to that. Whatever Krell had claimed he saw before Dogma killed him, other Jedi could too and it would be the same story all over again.

His brothers dying… and for what? He finally finished and searched his two brothers, trying to gauge some sort of reaction. Dej had gone stone still, his jaw clenched and his fists in tight balls on his lap. Glitch was simply staring at the ground,

"Why… why would a Jedi do something like that?" Glitch asked quietly after a moment. Bo let out a sigh, dragging his hands down his face.

"I don't know," he said, "Krell said something about having a vision of the Republic losing the war and thought that if he caused the Republic to lose Umbara that Dooku would take him on as an apprentice and he would be safe I guess."

"Do you…"

"No," Bo said firmly, he couldn't think of a good reason for him to promise that the Republic would win the war, he just wanted to comfort his brother. He glanced at Dej who was still staring at the floor, "Dej… are you…" he trailed off, Dej didn't look ok, but he had no idea what was running through his brother's mind, he rarely did with Dej.

"I… I don't understand," he said after a small pause. His brow furrowed in concentration as his jaw finally unclenched. "We…. General…"

"I know it's hard to understand," Jax said, reaching out to grab Dej's hand but Dej pulled away.

"I… I want to go think, alone, for a little while," he said, slowly standing to his feet. Jax nodded,

"You can come talk to us when you're ready," he said, Dej nodded and left the room.

"You think he'll be ok?" Bo asked, Glitch glanced up from the ground.

"This is going to… throw a lot of his thinking complex I guess," he said slowly, "He really trusts Jedi and their judgment. I think he'll try to find some way to justify it," Bo's fist clenched,

"There is no justifying it," he snapped, "Not after what Krell did to me, and our brothers. He killed thousands!" Jax put a hand on Bo's knee,

"Take a deep breath," he said,

"It's the way Dej was trained," Glitch said, "He… General Unduli reinforced his good soldier complex. This is going to set his head for a loop because he does not exactly understand why a Jedi would do this. Just give him time Bo," Bo stared at the ground for a moment,

"I'll go talk to him later," Bo said,

"You need to talk to General Windcaster," Glitch said, "I will talk to Dej, I know him best."

"I'm not going to talk to General Windcaster," Bo huffed, Glitch titled his head incredulously,

"She needs to know why, her brain is going to go insane with anxious thoughts about what she did to make you do that," Jax said, "She already is, you really need to talk to her, I'm sure she'll understand."

"She won't," Bo said, he got up and put on the rest of his armor in silence and left the room. Jax didn't stop him and instead decided to give his brother time to process. Glitch let out a small sigh,

"Someone should probably go and check on General Windcaster if she's awake." Glitch said after a moment of silence,

"I'll go check on her, just be ready for Dej whenever he decides to reemerge," Jax said, Glitch nodded, standing up slowly. Jax did the same, he pulled his brother into a tight hug, "It's been a long day," Jax murmured, Glitch chuckled,

"And we didn't even have a battle,"

"Well… this is a battle of some sort," Jax said as they released. Glitch gave a bitter chuckle,

"I'm going to find Dej, I'll see you tonight brother," he said, Jax nodded as Glitch walked out of the room. Jax took a deep breath and headed towards General Windcaster's quarters and knocked on the door.

"Come in," she called, the door slid open and he peeked inside. Esinon was sitting on a meditation cushion in the corner of her room with her legs crossed and her hands opened on her lap. There were a few candles flickering in the room and her quarters looked far cozier than any of the barracks did.

"Sorry, I can come back later," Jax said, already backtracking, Esinon opened her eyes.

"No you're fine," she said with a soft smile, "I was just finishing up anyway,"

"You seem better," he said, Esinon nodded,

"I've found a lot of clarity," she said, motioning for him to sit in the chair by her desk. "And if you're here to talk to me about what Bo did, I don't need you to explain,"

"I really feel like you deserve an explanation though sir," Jax said, subtly glancing at her bandaged arms.

"But I've found one," she said, "As you know I'm not like normal Jedi and I also have a different code, and I realize what was wrong with Bo. Power blinds without the serenity to see, like me, Bo is struggling to find balance because of something and I just happened to be the person that he took it out on. It's really alright," Jax stared at the floor,

"Do you think there is a way for Bo to find the serenity you're talking about?" he asked, Esinon hummed,

"Well, most likely it comes from something that happened. I've had the same issue, it's like when I got shot on Ryloth. Jayla struck a nerve associating with a… difficult memory, and my serenity was blinded. Bo needs to start working through whatever happened," Esinon secretly felt guilty for giving such advice to Jax when she had yet to deal with any of her own trauma. She didn't know how to find serenity, she mostly stuffed the memories away or in vain tried to release them. "I would suggest trying to get him to talk to someone about it because while I can release mine into the force it's a little harder for him to do it since he has no connection to it."

"Bo's not good at talking," Jax muttered,

"I'm not either," she chuckled, "I would suggest he go see Heart, but… he might not like Heart's methods," Jax raised and eyebrow, he knew that the younger medic offered counseling for anyone who needed it and Jax had heard he was extremely good at it but what did General Windcaster mean? "Just trust me, I don't want to spoil the surprise," She said with a coy smile, Jax chuckled,

"So you're sure you're alright?" Esinon nodded,

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine," she said, that encounter with Bo had rattled her more than she'd like to admit. Too many nightmares from Umbara of clones attacking her for her failure, it was too remnant of that and she'd fallen apart. Jax nodded and rose from his seat,

"Thank you, General, I'm going to go get some work done," he said, he headed out the door, "com me if you need anything," Esinon nodded as the door closed behind him. She took a deep breath, reopening her hands on her lap.

"Power blinds without the serenity to see," she murmured, reclosing her eyes and falling back into a meditative state.

* * *

Dej had been studying the floor for a while, his mind rushing at a million miles an hour. He'd found a quiet supply closet to sit in to be alone, it was comforting almost. In the small space, he wondered if this is how Jax felt when he got anxious and stole all of their pillows to create a smaller space on his bunk. He was always confused by that coping mechanism of his brother's, he thought Jax would get claustrophobic from the confined space but he never did.

He pulled his knees up to his chest as he traced the crevices between the floor panels, able to hear the subtle hum of the engine from here. He took a deep breath still trying to process everything Bo had told him.

It was insane really, he'd never heard of anything like this before. Then his memory sparked, General Windcaster had mentioned someone named Krell under the same pretenses. How could a Jedi do that? He felt sick, someone toying with their lives like that made him nauseous. Didn't they know that the clones were people too?

They were good soldiers, and followed orders, why would Krell betray them? He didn't understand Jedi, their powers, how their minds even worked, but any good and decent person should still treat them as people.

He could stand superior officers yelling at him, using him as an emotional punching bag, even calling him by his number if they so well pleased because they were in charge, but they shouldn't kill a clone because they could.

Enough brothers would have died in the Umbara siege on its own but with reckless plans and sabotage, Bo's claim of thousands was probably not far off. He let out a harsh breath, pressing his fists to his forehead. He heard the door whoosh open and his heart dropped for a minute, realizing how awkward it was going to be if a brother-

"You still thinking?" Glitch asked, closing the door behind him and sitting down in front of Dej. Glitch didn't get close enough to touch his brother, knowing that Dej wasn't much one for touching when he wanted comfort. Sitting with him was better. Dej nodded slowly,

"I guess so," he muttered, Glitch stared at the floor for a minute,

"Do you… wanna talk about it?" he asked,

"I guess I've thought about everything there is to talk about," Dej said, Glitch cocked his head annoyedly,

"But it's not good to internalize it," Glitch said, "and we have plenty of time, so tell me what's going through your mind." Dej sighed,

"It's already happened, and there isn't anything I can do about it, but I still want to change it. Like maybe if we hadn't all been separated then maybe we could have done something, and Bo wouldn't be like this," Bo just seemed so… broken. What Krell had done to Bo had left him scarred, physically and emotionally. In that locker room, Dej hadn't seen his fearsome Commander, he'd seen his scared brother who had climbed into their sleeping pods when he couldn't sleep. "Do you think… Bo will always be like this?" Glitch glanced back down at the floor for a moment before letting out a small breath,

"I don't know, Bo's not good at talking. So I don't know if he'll ever be able to open up more about this to us than he already has. He seemed… off." He looked back up at Dej and could still see his brother's brow furrowed. "But there's something else, what is it?"

"What if this becomes not an isolated incident anymore if Bo keeps hurting General Windcaster when he's angry… he could be reconditioned," Dej said quietly, Glitch swallowed hard.

"It's… it's not gonna happen again. We'll all help Bo, and make sure to be watching him, see when he's getting too angry." Glitch said, Dej wasn't convinced, but he wanted to keep both his General and his brother safe, so he was willing to try. Knowing that Glitch was running out of things to say, he nodded and got to his feet, pulling Glitch upward.

"Let's go see if we can find Jax," he said, Glitch nodded, giving Dej's hand a quick squeeze before they both headed out of the supply closet to find their brother.

**A few hours later, in the medbay…**

Heart was busy checking monitors in Spitfire's room, nothing had changed in about a week. Spitfire was stable, he just needed time to heal. That's what he and Boomer had been telling General Windcaster, Dej, Glitch, Jax, and Bo for the past week.

Heart understood being worried, most of them had probably never encountered someone in a coma, he just needed to be reassuring.

Heart heard something clunk behind him, he turned around to see Spitfire's face turning an unnatural color of red, Heart's brow furrowed and he jumped back as Spitfire seized,

"Boomer!" Heart yelled, something was very, very wrong.

* * *

**Hey y'all! **

**Eagles eyes98 I hope I did alright with Dej, I tried to work off what notes I had. **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: Spitfire in the front of the ship driving: ONE LAST TIME! I NEED TO BE, THE ONE WHO TAKES YOU HOME! *Bo slowly pulling out a blaster* *Dej pushing the blaster back down without looking at Bo* **

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	62. Bash

Boomer raced towards Spitfire's bed, he could hear Heart struggling with him.

"What is it?" He asked as he pulled back the curtain, but no answer from Heart was needed took one look at Spitfire shaking on the bed and could tell the psychologist was way out of his depth. He sprang into action quickly, "Use the straps to restrain him! He might aggravate his injuries!" Boomer set his datapad down and moved to the other side of the bed.

Heart nodded and followed Boomer's lead, grabbing Spitfire's wrists and pinning them as the energy cuffs locked around them. As they locked his legs in place, Boomer activated the ship-wide broadcaster "Code purple, I need Ziska and Jez in the medbay now! It's Spitfire,"

"His face is flushed," Heart noted, which was rare in seizures. "He could have an intracerebral hemorrhage."

Boomer nodded "Right, let's get a tomography scan and confirm that."

"On it!" Heart flew around the curtain on his way to the equipment room.

Boomer saw Ziska and Jez come into view as Heart left. They entered the room and immediately started helping get Spitfire's bed ready to move. As Ziska activated the levitation mode of the bed and released it from its port, Boomer gave Jez instructions, "I need you to get OR 2 ready for a Neuro operation. I hope we don't need to open him up but it's better to be prepared."

"Roger!"

Jez sprinted out of the space just as Heart came back in and bumped into him. He turned around to try and stabilize Heart but he was too late. Heart was propelled at the large biomonitor hooked up to Spitfire. He didn't have enough time to slow down, so he just shielded the CT scanner with his arms as he ran into it. Boomer heard the collision, but he didn't see the monitor coming down on him.

"Boomer! Look out!" Ziska grabbed Boomer and pulled him out of the way just as the machine came crashing on the wall beside him. But Ziska was just a little too slow, the monitor pinned Boomer's hand against the wall as he yelped then groaned in pain. Heart, Ziska, and Jez all hurried to get the monitor upright and off of Boomer's hand. The three could barely get it to budge due to the machine's weight, but they managed to get Boomer enough space for his hand to slide free.

"Thanks," he said rubbing his hand, "now, Jez get to work on that OR. Ziska, get Spitfire moving in that direction and Heart get the scan done while he's on the way. I'll grab my datapad and follow after you." They all nodded and acted on Boomer's orders. Meanwhile, Boomer lagged behind them while rubbing his hand, "Kriffin' kriff." he quickly made his way down after the other medics and pushed the door open with his good hand. Heart had just finished the tomography scan and handed the CT scanner to Jez who set it to the side.

"Scan results should be transmitting to your pad Boomer," Heart called out and moved behind him to view the x-ray.

Boomer sat his datapad down on the desk in the OR and brought up the results with his good hand. The large white mass on the screen confirmed their fear, this was a large hemorrhage. Boomer set his pad down and turned to his brothers, "Alright gentlemen, we've got a rapidly flowing vessel burst inside the cranium. We're gonna have to clip the ruptured artery, drain the hematoma, and then repair the artery." Heart, Ziska, and Jez listened as Spitfire's seizure finally subsided, "That'll make this a bit easier." Boomer brought up a 3D hologram of the scan from his pad. He circled the area they'd be working on, "Since the flow is this rapid, we're going to have to go with an open craniotomy."

Heart winced, that meant the skull was getting opened up. He had little to no experience with surgical procedures as he mostly dealt with the psychological side of patients. And this procedure was one of the more mentally demanding. It was a good thing Boomer had been a surgeon for as long as he had, Heart had no doubt Boomer would pull this operation off flawlessly.

"And I've got some bad news," Boomer said, lifting his hand, "My hand is broken. I can't do the surgery." He turned to Heart, "that means you're gonna have to fill in for me on this one."

"What? Boomer I've never done that? Ziska or Jez would be better than me. There no way I could poss-"

"Heart, it's gotta be you. Your hands are more steady than theirs. Look at that table. Spitfire needs you right now. This isn't a time to be worried about what you have or haven't done. The three of us will be here the whole time and I'll walk you through each and every step."

Heart sighed, looking at his hands and steeling himself for what was to come, "Alright, let's do it."

Everyone went about the sterilizing procedures, washing their hands, donning facemasks and gloves, and positioned themselves around the table.

"Jez, elevate him." Boomer said.

Jez held a button on the side of the table and it began to slowly bend in the middle. One Spitfire was sitting up, Ziska secured his head's position with metal bands under his chin.

"Alright Heart, open him up. One clean incision from the frontal to the occipital lobe." Boomer stood behind him.

Jez handed heart a scalpel, and heart let out another large breath before he cut into spitfire scalp. He carefully slid the blade down Spitfires head as he completed the first incision. Then Boomer directed him to make four more cuts, two at each end of the primary so they fold away the skin and get to the skull.

"Ziska get the aspirator ready and get any blood that's escaped from the sutures." Ziska complied and collected any blood that made its way past the skull. "Okay now Heart, let's cut away the parietal bone first and then try to locate the rupture."

Heart nodded as Jez handed him he cutting laser, he slowly traced the outline of the parietal bone until he could free it from the rest of the skull. Boomer nodded to Ziska who quickly aspirated the surrounding brain. That small amount of blood leftover would keep everything healthy so it could be replaced later. As the blood was evacuated, it became apparent that the flow originated on the lower left side of the skull. Boomer directed Heart to also cut away the left temporal bone so they could access the artery.

Boomer took the bones and placed them within the folds of skin that were removed earlier so they could be preserved. "Jez, store this in the freezer and make sure the bones stay in contact with the skin. Heart, use one of the small bands to and wrap it around the artery." Heart carefully maneuvered his forceps around the artery as Ziska continued to aspirate the free-flowing blood. Once Heart had banded the artery, Ziska was able to clear all of the blood around the brain.

"Ok, this is the last part. Your hands are going to need to be really steady for this one. Cutaway a small piece of the artery on the free side of the band you just put on. Be careful not to cut to close or he'll start bleeding again."

"Alright," Heart said shakily, and went about the cut. He managed to get just far away enough to avoid another bleed.

"Great work Heart," Ziska said.

Boomer took the forceps Heart had with his good hand called Ziska over with the grafter. Together they ran it through while Heart nervously waited for his next instructions.

Boomer came back with a grafted piece of the artery in forceps and gave it back to Heart, "Now use bands to connect this to either side of the rupture on the artery." Heart did just that, carefully stretching the graft out enough so there was no slack. When he was done he set down his forceps as Boomer, Jez and Ziska pat him on the back.

"Well done Heart," Boomer said, "I knew you could do it. Now we'll wrap him up and check to see if the graft healed tomorrow. If it heals well, we'll reassemble the skull and patch him back up."

Heart smiled to himself, proud of what he'd just done, "I really did that, I did a surgery."

Boomer laughed as Ziska and Jez started wrapping Spitfire's head in gauze, "And you'll get to finish the job tomorrow."

"I think I can handle that, I feel like the worst of it has passed."

"Well don't go jinxing him, Heart."

He laughed, "You know Boomer if you need me to do any more surgeries I think I'm getting the hang of it."

"Slow down there, you've only done one, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to let you come join on a few more of them. It'd be nice to have another surgeon on board."

**A few days later...**

The day after Spitifire's surgery, Heart had stitched him back together, he was going to be ok. Boomer was currently checking over monitors in Spitfire's room, he'd been showing signs of waking for two hours. He glanced over at Spitfire's bed as he groaned, the younger clone blinked his eyes open, glancing around the room.

"m- head hurts," he murmured, Boomer chuckled, pressing Spitfire to the bed as he attempted to sit up.

"Should be expected, you've been through quite the ordeal," he said, "Brain fog should wear off in a few hours, that's why it's hard to think and talk right now," Spitfire grumbled something under his breath.

"Brothers?" he asked,

"I'm gonna let you sleep for a few more hours and wait for the fog to wear off and then you can see them." Boomer said, Spitfire didn't seem too happy about that but soon surrendered to sleep anyways,

* * *

"Spitfire!" Glitch shouted as Boomer finally stepped aside to let Spitfire's batchmates into the room. Spitfire grinned as Glitch sat down on the edge of his bed and gently wrapped him in a hug. "I missed you,"

"Missed you too vod'ika," he said, as Glitch let go and the rest of them said their hellos, he glanced back to see General Windcaster leaning against the doorway, he grinned,

"Sir," he greeted, she gave him a soft smile,

"Hello Spitfire, it's good to see you up," she said,

"Good to be up,"

"Are you alright?" Bo asked,

"Yeah, and I get to have a wicked scar too," he said with a big grin,

"If your hair grows back," Boomer said, Spitfire whipped around,

"What?!"

"A scar like that might mean you're bald for the rest of your life," Spitfire groaned,

"I'm gonna look weird," he whined, Esinon chuckled,

"Plenty of clones shave their heads you'll look just fine," she said,

"And I never said it wouldn't grow back, I'm just making you aware of the possibility," Boomer said,

* * *

**A few weeks later…**

Finally back on Coruscant and she had a minute to breathe. She let out a deep breath as she sat in the temple gardens meditating, she'd been meditating far more recently in pursuit of balance. She closed her eyes breathing deep the fresh air, exhaling slowly. She finally fell into a meditative state, able to connect with everything arou- BEEP! Her eyes whipped open at the sound of comlink beeping, she grumbled to herself aggressively answering the hailing.

"What?" she snapped,

"Well that's some way to greet me after so long," Korkie said from the other end of the link, her eyes went wide for a moment before she sighed, placing her hand on her forehead.

"Sorry," she muttered, "It's just… been a long few missions and this is my first alone time in a lot of days."

"I can call back later if you want," he said, he sounded concerned.

"No, now is good," she replied, "What's on your mind,"

"Actually I wanted you to go somewhere for me," he said, Esinon cocked an eyebrow,

"Where is it you want me to go?" She asked curiously,

"I'll send you an address, can you go there for me?" he asked, Esinon cocked her head,

"What is this?" she asked,

"A surprise, I promise you'll like it," he said the excitement building in his voice, Esinon chuckled,

"Alright, I'll play along I guess," she said, rising to her feet. Korkie kept talking to her as she headed to the hanger and hopped on a speeder heading for the address Korkie had sent her. She finally pulled up next to the address. It was a nice neighborhood, where a lot of senators and high-class members of society lived, now that she thought about it it wasn't far from the Senate building. She hummed thoughtfully for a second, before knocking on the door of the building in front of her. The door opened to a familiar face.

"Korkie?" she asked,

"Surprise," he said,

"What- what in the name of the force are you doing here?" she asked as he embraced her.

"You are now looking at the new senator for Mandalore," he said excitedly, as he led her inside.

"Korkie, that's-that's incredible," she breathed, a little stunned by the apartment and her boyfriend who she thought was still on Mandalore here, standing behind her with his hands on his shoulders. She could feel all of the excitement radiating off of him.

"So you're going to be seeing a lot more of me General Windcaster," he said, coming to stand in front of her. She smirked, leaning up and placing a kiss on his cheek.

"I think I'd like that very much," she replied, she enveloped him in a hug and he placed a kiss on her forehead. She felt his chest heave in relief,

"I'm really glad you're ok," He murmured, she smiled softly, gently rubbing his back.

"I'm alright, I promise," she whispered,

"Do you have to go back to the temple or can you stay for a bit?" he asked, they finally separated,

"I can stay for a bit," she said, he smiled, "Besides, there's a lot of apartment for you to show me," she linked her arm in his and they set off.

**One week later…**

Jayla was really annoyed that she had to admit that Esinon would be able to handle this situation better than she could but for the sake of this trooper she'd swallow her pride and move on.

Jayla had realized very early on in becoming the new General of the 673rd that all of her men either feared or hated Jedi. But every single one of them had been abused in some way, shape, or form, by Krell, and she'd been working tirelessly to prove she wasn't Krell for the past two years. Esinon had a special bond with her clones, a kindness that Jayla couldn't seem to replicate.

So when even after two years a certain trooper in her ranks had yet to become any better, she decided to send him to Esinon. She wanted her men to thrive and if it meant them not being with her, she needed to accept that.

His name was Bash and he refused to take off his helmet around her. She knew that he took the helmet off because Uno had told her when she'd asked but he refused to show his face around her.

When she'd asked Uno, he said he didn't know, all he knew is that one day Bash just refused to take off his helmet in front of the Jedi. Jayla knew that he wasn't happy here, she could sense it.

Besides, Bash barely had any friends and never really interacted with others, he just did as he was told and ate, trained, and slept but other than that he didn't do anything remotely for himself. That's why she was sending him to Esinon, Esinon would be able to help him. Jayla finished the transfer form and sent it off to Uno with a sigh.

"I hope you'll find some happiness Bash," she murmured,

* * *

Esinon glanced over as her datapad dinged, while Dej was helping her organize her disaster of an office. She grabbed it opening the notification,

"Huh," she said,

"What is it sir," Dej asked,

"There's a new transfer, from Jayla," she said, "CT-6453, his name is Bash." Dej nodded, tapping another stack of flimsi on her desk to straighten them out before depositing them into a vanilla folder and stashing it neatly into her filing cabinet. "The ship is supposed to arrive soon, do you wanna come?"

"If you would like me to sir," he replied, she nodded,

"Besides, I need someone to show him around the Duchess," she said excitedly, Dej smiled under the helmet. It was nice to see her excited about something, it'd been a difficult time on the Duchess lately with all of Bo's 'stuff'. Dej knew that Bo was trying his best, but he still wasn't acting very Commander like and still shoulder checking General Windcaster when he got the chance.

Dej was simply becoming frustrated, he understood that Bo had trauma from the event with Krell, but he didn't think that should carry over to General Windcaster. She'd done nothing but attempt to take care of her men and be the best leader she could be. Dej didn't think that she deserved what she was getting from Bo.

Besides, they were soldiers, they were made to follow orders, and Bo should at least try to put aside his personal feelings for the sake of the mission at hand. Esinon used her speed to haphazardly stack the flimsi in piles around her office. "There I think that's good enough," Dej sighed, there was still a lot of work to be done in here.

Plus the speedster would rustle papers anytime she moved as fast as she did so he doubted her office would ever be truly organized. "To the hanger!" she announced, Dej followed after her down to the hanger. It wasn't a long wait until a small transport pulled down into the hanger, the door slipped open and a trooper with plain aqua-blue stripes of the 818th on his armor. He stopped in front of General Windcaster and saluted her, "Hello," she greeted, "I'm General Esinon Windcaster, and this is Dej, welcome to the Duchess Bash,"

the soldier made no move at first, seemingly off-put by her friendly nature. To be honest, Dej had been a little off-put by it at first as well, but he had quickly learned that that was just her personality and she was a generally friendly person.

"Thank you, sir," Bash said, falling to parade rest,

"So Dej is going to show you around because the Duchess is slightly different than the average-"

"General!" Jeho called from the ventilation shaft above, he lowered himself to the ground on his mechanical arms. "General, you said you would come to the Cortex for us to run some tests," Esinon sighed,

"Jeho, I'm kinda in the middle of something right now,"

"But you said-"

"Yes I know, I will be there in five minutes alright?" Jeho nodded, a mechanical arm firing back up to the ceiling and he crawled back into the ventilation shaft. Bash simply stared back up at the ventilation shaft as Esinon sighed. "Well that's one less person for you to meet I guess, that's Jeho, our head engineer. I'm sure you'll meet his counterpart Byte soon enough. Also if you see weird looking B-1s wandering around, please don't shoot them. They're Byte's droids and he might have a riot if we break them… we already had an… incident." she said, Dej knew she was referring to her 'infection' and the not so unfortunate destruction of Byte's rouge bots. "Alright, so there is plenty to see and Jeho won't leave me alone even though it's been one minute and not five. So if you need anything just comm me alright Dej?" she said, passing him a datapad.

"Yes sir," he replied, giving her a salute as she started towards the Cortex. Bash saluted her as well as she gave them a brief nod and disappeared around the corner.

"So, as General Windcaster said, I'm Dej, it's nice to meet you Bash," Dej greeted, Bash gave him another nod. Looked like he wasn't much of a talker, "Also the ship's layout is slightly different, I believe General Skywalker designed it to cater to General Windcaster's speed and Jeho and Byte's… inventions." Bash nodded and followed after Dej. He showed him through the halls pointing out differences in the Duchess's design, such as the droid barracks for Byte's droids, the Cortex, the scrap room for Jeho and Byte.

Now that Dej thought about it, most of the differences were to cater to Jeho and Byte, but then again the engineers did contribute quite a lot to the GAR. They constantly had new tech for them to try out and it was making the army as a whole stronger. Bash had yet to say anything and honestly, it was a little off-putting to Dej.

He didn't have any questions, and only seemed vaguely interested in anything that was going on around him, but Dej left if alone. Maybe Bash was simply frustrated he had been transferred in the first place, it was hard being moved around a lot and having your life uprooted in an instant. He was going to give Bash time to adjust and maybe his true personality would start to shine through.

**A few days later…**

Bash wasn't big about having his helmet off, especially around General Windcaster. He always kept it close, sliding it on whenever the Jedi was around. Dej found it odd, to be honest, but he got an idea of why Bash might have an issue with having his helmet off, or his armor for that matter when Bash took off his helmet for the first time. There was a burn scar that covered the entire right half of his face, the burnt skin flowed up into his hairline leaving most of his hair gone.

The burn scar disappeared into the line of his blacks and Dej had a sneaking suspicion that the burn continued further than that. Some brothers were uncomfortable with their scars, Spitfire was not one of them, taking any chance he got to flex the big burn scars that spanned his back and chest from his time as a flame trooper, but some simply didn't like others seeing them. He personally didn't have a problem with his because they told a story, all scars did. He wondered what the story behind Bash's. Bash glanced at him and smiled slightly but quickly turned his head back to the floor. He quickly slid his helmet back on and ducked out of the room, Dej followed after Bash, he'd been trying to make the new trooper feel welcome and Dej wanted him to know that.

"Bash!" he called, the trooper froze, he slowly turned around,

"Yeah?" he asked, his voice forced into normality. Dej's heart panged,

"Do you have a minute… to talk?" he asked,

"If you want to ask about my scar, I don't want to talk about it. You won't have to see it anymore," Bash said, he turned around to walk off but Dej grabbed his wrist.

"You don't have to be ashamed about it," Dej said, "Most of us have them in some capacity. No one is going to judge you for it," Bash stiffened under his grip,

"Not like me," he said, "not like mine,"

"You don't have to be insecure around your brothers, it's war and things happen, you don't need to be ashamed of that. Trust me, some will even think it's cool!" Dej said in reference to Spitfire, he would instantly take a liking to someone with as many scars as he and. "The only reason it's drawing a lot of eyes is everyone wants to know the story," Bash stiffened further,

"I don't want to talk about it," he growled, pulling his arm away, Dej sighed,

"Will you at least come and sit with me in the mess tomorrow?" he asked, Bash stared at him for a moment,

"I'll- I'll think about it," he said, before hurriedly walking off.

"What was that all about?" Glitch asked, coming back from his shower, Dej shook his head,

"Nothing, don't worry about it," he said giving Glitch a small smile and squeezing his shoulder as he passed. Glitch frowned,

"Fine Mr. Secret-pants," he huffed, Dej chuckled,

"You still act like a cadet, you know that?" Glitch stuck out his bottom lip in an exaggerated pout,

"And maybe I do, least I'm not a stiff,"

"Punk," Dej muttered,

"Jerk," Glitch shot back with a grin, Dej shook his head fondly, the lights above automatically shut off as lights out was upon them. Dej crawled into his bunk settling in for the night. He closed his eyes attempting to drift off into sleep, he was just about to when he heard footsteps reentering the barracks. He didn't move, instead just listened. He could hear armor clips being undone and realized Bash had returned to the barracks. He took a deep breath, hopefully, Bash would take him up on his offer, and see that he was safe with his brothers and there was nothing to fear.

**The next morning…**

Turns out Bash did take him up on his offer which made him very happy. At first, Dej thought Bash wasn't coming but he simply showed up late to breakfast and found Dej. Bash was still sitting in front of his food not touching it and keeping his helmet on. No one said anything and acted normally, Spitfire snorted into his water as Glitch made another bad joke.

"Geez you're no better at those than you were when we were infantrymen," Spitfire said, Glitch whapped his upside the head.

"I'd like to see you do better," he said, Spitfire crossed his arms,

"I could and just choose not too right now,"

"That's code for I can't," Dej smirked, Spitfire glared at him,

"You couldn't even make a joke about reg manuals if you tried," he snapped, Dej caught out of the corner of his eye, Bash removing his helmet. He said nothing and continued on, hoping that the others would follow his lead and not say anything about Bash's scar until he was ready.

"That's why I leave the joke making to Glitch," he said,

"It's a travesty really," Bo said as he finally joined their table, Dej noticed Bash stiffening and slowly started reaching for his helmet and Dej was about to give some silent encouragement, but Bash stopped when he spotted the scars on Bo's cheek, running up to his right eye. His hands slid back to his utensils and he continued eating. Dej smiled to himself, maybe seeing others' scars would help Bash feel better. Just needed to get Spitfire to start bragging during training… which wouldn't be hard.

**A few hours later…**

Esinon was still staring Spitfire down as they went on and on, up and down up and down, they'd been at it for ten minutes while everyone had broken off to go into separate spars and training.

"I'm not losing this one," Esinon said coolly as she gracefully sank into another pushup.

"I'm not either," Spitfire growled, Esinon smirked, starting to see the sweat gathering on his brow, then again as much as she wasn't showing it, her arms and core were starting to burn. She may be an ARC but that didn't mean she had off days, after another ten minutes she finally sank down for the last time, chuckling as she dropped out of the contest. Spitfire dropped to the ground as well. "Yes!" he cheered, Esinon giggled rolling over as Spitfire jumped to his feet, he pulled up his shirt, revealing large scars across his chest and back. "Abs of steel baby," Esinon rolled to her feet, pulling up her shirt as well,

"I wouldn't count on it,"

"Says the woman who lost," she punched his shoulder playfully,

"Hey, that's your General you're talking to," she said, putting her hands on her hips,

"Sir yes sir," Spitfire said, snapping to a salute, Esinon chuckled, out of the corner of her eye she caught Bash staring at her. She waved giving him a friendly smile but he quickly focused his gaze back on Dej and what they were both working on.

"Alright, abs of steel, what do you wanna work on next?"

**One week later…**

Bash had finally seemed to settle in with the 221st, sticking close to Dej at any chance he got. He wasn't as uncomfortable with having his helmet off as before but still kept it within grabbing distance. Dej didn't blame him, it was a safety blanket, plenty of brothers had them. Bash still wouldn't talk about his scar and still struggle with his own self-esteem issues. It didn't go unnoticed to Dej that he always showered after everyone, kept his helmet on during training, and never came to do anything overly casual with his brothers. Dej left it alone for now, after all, Bash had only been here for a couple of weeks.

Dej was a light sleeper, most clones were, used to sleeping with one eye open. And he heard Bash up and moving around a lot at night. He assumed that Bash was just a restless sleeper and left it alone, he was still getting the sleep he needed and Bash didn't look very tired in the mornings so Dej just assumed that Bash just tossed and turned a lot. Well… until tonight.

Dej blinked his eyes open as he heard more rustling, he attempted to ignore it and go back to sleep but he was soon caught by murmuring. He sat up groggily, knowing that someone was probably having a nightmare. He glanced around the room searching for anyone who was waking up, he glanced to a bunk below him, Bash's bunk. Dej slowly crawled out of his bunk and down to Bash's. He gently shook his brother's shoulder,

"Bash," he whispered, "Bash, wake up," Dej ducked as Bash sent a fist hurling towards him. He caught his wrist and held it firmly as Bash continued to thrash around, "Bash, it's alright, you're safe, it's me, Dej," Bash stopped moving and stared at his brother,

"Dej?" he asked shakily,

"Yeah it's me," he whispered, letting go of Bash's wrist, and gently placing a hand on his shoulder, Bash pressed his fists to his forehead letting out a shaky breath.

"He's dead, he's dead, he's dead," Bash murmured, his body curling further in on itself, "He can't get to me,"

"Who can't get you?" Dej asked,

"Krell," he muttered, "Krell's dead, he can't get to me," Bash repeated this over and over and over again as Dej began getting lost in his thoughts. Krell had hurt Bash too, he'd done something,

"Bash, did Krell give you that scar?" Dej didn't understand Jedi's powers, so he really thought anything was within their range of abilities. Bash shook his head,

"There was a gunship, and… and I wanted to get my brother out before it exploded." he said shakily, "And we didn't get super far, because he was unconscious and my ankle was… broken." Bash's brow furrowed as he fought to memories he had suppressed for so long. "But the ship exploded so I tried to protect his body with mine… and I got burned. And when I woke up… I was scared I was gonna be decommissioned, Krell didn't like clones with deformities. I didn't want to die," he whispered his voice shaking, "But Krell said I could stay if… if I kept my helmet on around him. He told me that my brothers wouldn't want to see it either, so I… I wore- wear the helmet." Dej stared at the floor for a minute,

"You shouldn't be ashamed of it," Dej replied, "And… General Windcaster, she isn't like that. I've seen the things she'd do for us, any of us. Trust me, she won't be upset by your scar,"

"I saw some on her stomach today," Bash murmured,

"See?" Dej asked, "we all have them,"

"I- I can't," he muttered, "I can't trust Jedi anymore, I can't," Dej pulled his brother into a hug.

"You can always go see Heart, if you want to talk to someone," Bash nodded his head slowly, nestling his body a little closer to Dej's. He knew that for Bash it was like Bo, Krell had broken them. He knew that it was going to be a process, but at least Bash hadn't let his personal feelings interfere with the mission.

**A few days later...**

Esinon stared at the report in her lap as Glitch mindlessly braided her hair behind her. She'd had a lot on her mind over the last few days, particularly about the new trooper who had joined her ranks. Bash didn't seem to like her, correction, he seemed downright scared of her. She let out a sigh,

"What's wrong?" Glitch asked, gently running his fingers through another section of her hair and starting to braid again.

"Nothing," she muttered, she could feel Glitch giving a look from behind her.

"Come on Esinon, I can tell something's bothering you," he said, stopping his braiding for a moment and sliding down in front of her. "Tell me,"

"The new trooper, Bash, have you met him?" she asked, Glitch nodded,

"He's a big burn scar," Glitch said, Esinon perked up,

"Really?" she asked, Glitch nodded slowly,

"You've never seen his face?" he asked, Esinon shook her head,

"He always wears his helmet around me and I don't know why. Whenever I can feel the littlest bit of him, he seems scared of me." Glitch stared at his boots for a minute,

"I'm not sure, he really keeps to himself. He likes Dej though," Glitch said, "They're really close with one another, and Bash talks to him a lot! I'm really glad that Dej is finally starting to make some new friends." Esinon chuckled,

"Dej is bad at making friends? I'm not surprised," Dej was extremely quiet, he was around her a lot and seemed to like her alright, but he had a big good soldier complex. Which was somewhat annoying when she just wanted him to relax and know that it was alright to be a little more lax around her. Glitch rolled his eyes,

"He's just not as social as me,"

"Yeah I could tell when I first met both of you," she said, "And the pink hair just screams extrovert," Glitch stuck out his bottom lip to pout,

"It's not pink anymore," he said, pulling at a curl of his now bright blue hair. Esinon chuckled,

"Fine, brightly colored hair screams extrovert, besides I could just sense that Dej is an introvert,"

"You can sense that?" he asked, Esinon nodded,

"I'm an empath, you know that right?" she asked, Glitch stared at her for a minute,

"I thought you were a telepath," he said,

"I can do that too," she said, "But I don't because it's invasive,"

"Would I be able to tell if you were doing it?" he asked,

"If I went digging around in your mind for them, yes, but if you're projecting them really loudly and my shields aren't up then no you wouldn't know."

"Are your shields usually up?" he asked,

"People have very loud thoughts," she said, Glitch nodded, Esinon sat back for a minute letting her thoughts swirl for a second. She mentally traced their conversation back to Bash… he'd transferred from the 818th… and was scared of her… a Jedi. "I've gotta go," Esinon said suddenly, Glitch glanced up at her as she jumped to her feet.

"Is everything ok?"

"Yeah- yup, I just need to call Jayla, now, right now," she said,

"O-ok," he replied,

"I'll be back in a little bit," she called over her shoulder as she disappeared around the corner. She sprinted to her office and pulled out a communicator, rustling flimsi as she went superspeed into her office. She quickly dialed Jayla's com frequency. She impatiently bounced her knee as the com ringed once, twice, three times, and Jayla finally answered, "Finally," Jayla frowned,

"You really need to get better about answering com calls nicely," she said, crossing her arms. Esinon rolled her eyes.

"That's not important right now," Esinon replied, "Bash, did he serve under Krell?" Jayla stared at her for a moment,

"What?" she said softly,

"Bash, did he serve under Krell? Was he with the initial troopers that were there when you took over the 673rd," Jayla stared at her foot for a moment before nodding,

"Yes, I don't know what happened to him, but he wasn't happy with the 818th. I've seen how you are with the clones… they like you, I just don't have that with them. I thought you'd be able to help him, that he'd be happier with you," Jayla explained, Esinon sat back staring up at the ceiling. She couldn't escape Krell. She took a deep breath,

"Do you think Krell did something to him, or do you think it was something else?" she asked, Jayla ran a hand down her face.

"Uno said something about an incident once, I don't think the initial part of it was anything Krell did but the aftermath was," she said, Esinon nodded, running a hand through her hair.

"Alright, thank you, Jayla," she nodded,

"May the force be with you," Jayla replied before ending the call, Esinon stood up, getting ready to go find Bash and hopefully talk to him, but before she could even start her escapade to find Bash the loudspeaker came on.

"General Windcaster, can we please get you on the bridge," a clone's voice said, Esinon let out a sigh and backtracked towards the bridge. Looks like they had been deployed again, she'd have to find Bash later, at least it would give her time to think of a way to confront him about it. She made it to the bridge, finishing her braid and tossing her long hair over her shoulder.

* * *

**Alright, alright, alright, the first scene of Spitfire's surgery, all credit for that goes to eagle eyes98 bc I couldn't write it lol **

**So what do you think of Bash! Sweet child, I love him a lot, and I think it's nice for Dej to have another friend. **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: **

**Anakin: I need you to promise me you'll be on your best behavior**

**Esinon: I already promised other people I'd be on my worst behavior. And I have my word so... **

**Anakin: Don't make me fire you, **

**Esinon: you can't fire me, you're assistant dad, not head dad, therefore you have no firing power**

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


	63. Memories

"What's our briefing?" she asked Jax upon entering the bridge.

"Separatist takeover on Eadu," he said, "They're building some sort of factory, and have enslaved all the locals. Our job is to get rid of the base and free the locals," Esinon hummed,

"Sounds like Ryloth, hope they don't pull another gutarrak stunt," she muttered,

"Sir?"

"Nothing, it's an old mission, let's come up with a plan because landing on that rainy planet will be difficult. We'll have to take small troop transports, I don't know if the gunships will be able to handle those high type winds," Esinon pulled up a map of the structure, it was on a sheer cliff with barely a landing pad. The mountainous faces didn't have much space to land transports anyway, Esinon sighed. "Well, we can't land on the Seppie landing pad, they'll mow us down. Too many heavy artillery guns," She motioned to the holo. "Our best is to land somewhere down in the canyon and scale the rock face to the top. Then we attack the base."

"That'll work, they have the locals down here mining something. We just might need some air support on standby." Esinon frowned,

"I'm not sure we'll be able to get any, small fighters weren't built for this kind of weather. We need to keep it a ground assault." she said, "Our best bet is for some of us to go to the front and draw all of their fire towards us. The back of the cliff has certain sections where security cams won't be able to catch anyone. That team will need to place charges while we handle the outside forces. Once the forces clear we'll have to get out of range fast. The problem is, the droids'll follow after us as we retreat so the fight won't be over as we repel down the face. If at all possible, we need to get the transports to come and get us out as we repel." Jax nodded,

"And I assume you'll be on the infiltration team?" he asked, Esinon shook her head,

"Of course not, I need to be on the front. The droids on their own turf and I'm betting that this structure is a droid factory. There will be two more replacing every one we tear down. Bo can handle the infiltration team, after all, he's an ARC. I think you should be as well," Jax shook his head,

"No, my place is on the front,"

"Jax, I'm pulling all the ARCs for this mission and you're one of them. A captain does not always have to be with his General," she said,

"But…" he trailed off leaving out the 'well who will watch over you, if not me?' Jax considered this his number one priority, to keep his General safe because without her the 221st was nothing. She was the glue that held everything together. Esinon smiled,

"I can look out for myself Jax, I promise I'll be careful," Jax smirked,

"Well, you never are which is why I worry so much,"

"I mean this plan is already a bit insane, how much more reckless can I really get?" she teased, Jax sighed, shaking his head fondly.

"I'll go prepare the infiltration team," he said,

"Pick your best men, Captain," she said, Jax nodded, giving her a salute before ducking out of the bridge. Esinon took a deep breath, this mission would be difficult, but not impossible. She just needed to center herself and focus.

**One hour later…**

Rain was pouring down in sheets on top of them, Esinon attempted to wipe the rain out of her eyes again on the back of her glove but it was replaced by more rain trickling into her eyes and down her. She was currently laying on top of a cliff not far from the Separatist factory. From here she could see the mines, where people lay below. She flinched, _black ash swirled up into her face, coming into her lungs as she choked, her already weak body quivering with dry coughs. _Esinon blinked, her fists clenched into the soil, she let out a small sigh, rising to her feet. CRACK! The sound of thunder echoed through the canyon, magnified ten-fold. _Crack, crack, crack, the whip kept coming down on her back. She didn't know when the pain was going to end, _Esinon stumbled back, _she could feel blood trickling down back. _

"General?" Esinon blinked, her hands shaking and her eyes wide. She glanced back at Glitch, "Are alright?" she nodded slowly,

"Yeah, I'm fine," she muttered, "Let's get ready to scale the cliff," She said, he nodded,

"Yes sir," he went off to gather the men and Esinon took a deep breath. She couldn't afford to be distracted, she pinched the bridge of her nose letting out a harsh breath. She needed to focus. She got to the front of her men and grabbed her cable off her belt, "Everyone watch your step," she called, "It's gonna be slick," She fired her cable and it was followed by many more as she began her climb. She moved faster and more agile across the slippery rocks, she watched her men carefully as they traversed the rugged terrain. She pulled herself up to another stretch of the cliff, she saw her comlink flash, signaling that the infiltration team was in position.

She motioned to her men and they jumped over the cliff, Esinon ignited her lightsaber, deflecting bolts back at the preliminary guards. Soon most of her men had made it over the ledge, the rain was still hammering down upon them in sheets. More droids started to flood their way out of the factory, Esinon dug her feet into the dirt beginning to deflect bolts at the droids, and just as she had predicted, for everyone they mowed down, two more appeared to replace it. She flipped over a bolt, rushing the droids head-on, slicing through them at a rapid-fire pace. Thunder rolled overhead, _carts rolled along the track, hundreds of pounds being moved by the togruta around her. Esinon wanted to help them, she really did, but for now, all she could do was wait. She hated waiting. _Esinon sliced off the head of another droid, using the force to shove down another row of droids.

She leapt up, slashing through another droid as her men pressed forward. She ducked, dodging another blaster bolt that had been heading for her head. She took the opportunity of being lower to the ground and spun around, nailing a droid in the ankle.

She used the force to snap its head off its hinges. She heard someone scream behind her, _it seemed the screaming would never stop. At this point in her torture, she couldn't tell if it was her screaming or Rex. All she could feel was the whip coming down upon her back, and the slow trickle of her own wounds as she collected another batch of soon to be scars. _Esinon flipped over a droid, grabbing it's head and throwing it over her head.

She threw her lightsaber forward, using it as a boomerang to mow down a good portion of the droids around her. She caught her lightsaber, it sizzled menacingly in the rain. She glanced back taking stock of troopers still left, their numbers were still high from what she could tell. She whipped around at the pounding of more droid feet, she snarled lunging towards the first droid she spotted, and rammed her electrified fist into its head. She grabbed the droid's face and whipped it around, throwing it into another droid.

Thunder cracked and lightning flashed, _she was alone and disoriented. She could hear someone yelling at her, questions maybe? All she could remember was being taken away from Rex at the beginning of the night and the knowledge that Dooku knew they were here. She couldn't remember much after that, her mind was fuzzy and she kept drifting in and out of consciousness. She didn't feel good, she was cold and weak. Her head hurt, her everything hurt. She just wanted to be done, _

Esinon's comlink blinked signaling it was time to leave. She started her retreat, effectively telling her men it was time to go. The very back of the men quickly started their repel down the mountainside. Esinon continued her fight, soon half of her men were already down the cliffside, only about a squad of them was left, and all of them had started their repel except for one- BOOM!

The factory exploded, and too soon, Esinon fell into flash time as the explosion began to rage in slow motion. Bash was still fighting and hadn't moved to repel down the cliff face. She sprinted towards him just as the explosion was reaching him. She tackled him towards the cliff face, using her body to protect him. The explosion raged over them, sending them flying over the cliff.

Esinon cried out as flames and shrapnel tore through her shoulder and up her cheek. In her pain she let go of Bash, flames still ripping around them. Bash started to plummet towards the ground, Esinon panicked, she had to save him! She tucked her arms to her sides and dove towards Bash, the wind whipping around her face.

She rocketed past him, using her good arm to pull up with the force at the last second and land roughly on the ground, sending cracks into the soil. At the last second, she used the force to catch Bash.

She grunted as her knees crumbled under the weight, sending her down. She collapsed into the dirt as Bash fell down next to her. She blinked blearily as she heard shouting, she could feel mud and blood coating her body. Her shoulder kriffin' hurt, and she could feel rain pouring into the wound. She didn't move from her position on the ground, everything hurt too much. The last thing she saw before she blacked out was the blurry figure of a clone rushing towards her.

**A few hours later…**

Esinon blinked her eyes, becoming quickly aware that she couldn't see anything out of her right eye. She panicked, jolting out of the bed, groaning at the dull pain that shot through her shoulder and face. Boomer grabbed onto her good shoulder, gently easing her back onto the bed.

"Easy General," he said, she tried to speak but her throat was burning and it was hard to breathe. She couldn't talk, she couldn't see! She could hear her heart monitor shoot into erratic beeping as she struggled. "General! Take a deep breath," Boomer commanded, "It's just a bandage, you're alright!" She stopped struggling, gripping Boomer's vambrace as she tried to calm her breathing. "Breathe with me Esinon, in, out," She followed Boomer's breathing, the beeping starting to slow. "Easy, you're alright, it's just a bandage, your eye is going to be fine."

"Where," she stopped to swallow, her throat still dry from her momentary panic. "Where's Bash?"

"A couple of rooms down," Boomer said, "He's going to be alright, he's a little burnt, but he's gonna be perfectly fine, thanks to you."

"Casualty report?" she asked, her voice hoarse and scared,

"Later, go back to sleep," he said,

"Boomer," she said in a more firm tone,

"It was low, the plan worked very well," he said, Esinon let out a small breath of relief, fogging up her oxygen mask.

"Did you get to talk to Jax?" she asked,

"He's fine as well, now go back to sleep before I give you a sedative,"

"I'll take the sedative," she murmured, Boomer grumbled to himself,

"That was an empty threat, go back to sleep," he flipped off the lights and closed the curtain behind him. Esinon took another deep breath, her throat still raw and her nose burning, dull pain still aching through her body. She finally closed her eyes and surrendered herself to sleep.

* * *

"How do you feel?" Dej asked tentatively as Bash ran a hand down his face, grimacing at the tug of stitches across his chest. Bash groaned,

"What happened?" he asked,

"Well, the factory exploded early," Dej began, "and well, General Windcaster tackled you off the edge and saved you." Bash stared at him for a moment,

"She… she what?" he murmured,

"She saved you Bash," Dej repeated, Bash's brow furrowed, flexing his fingers, able to feel the scars on his fingers pulling.

"Jedi don't save people," he muttered,

"That's their whole job Bash," Dej replied, "Jedi save people, especially General WIndcaster, she's selfless. She almost died saving you." Bash stared up at the ceiling,

"Can I talk to Heart please?" Dej nodded, ducking out the room and bringing the younger medic back with him. Dej had noticed ever since he had offered for Bash to go see Heart, the clone had been going to see the medic a lot more. He was glad that Bash was finding someone to talk to if it wasn't going to be him. Dej gave Bash a nod as he ducked back out of the room, Heart pulled up a chair next to Bash's bed, as he sat up a little further.

"Dej said you wanted to talk to me," Heart began, "he said you seemed distressed about the mission,"

"Is it true that General Windcaster…" Bash trailed off, he didn't know if he was ready to acknowledge a Jedi helping him.

"Saved you?" Heart questioned, Bash, gave a small nod, "yes, she tackled you off the cliff because you didn't get to the ropes in time,"

"W-why?" he asked, Heart shrugged,

"General Windcaser is selfless, and would rather die than let you die," he said, "She's going to protect you, us."

"But why? She's a Jedi, Jedi don't do that kind of stuff," Heart stared at Bash for a moment,

"Who did you use to serve under?"

"General Archer," he replied,

"Did she treat you well?" he asked, Bash nodded slowly.

"She was more… distant I suppose." he said, "she seemed to have some sort of underlying issues with clones, but I kept my distance because…"

"Was there someone before General Archer?" Heart asked, Bash nodded feebly,

"Gen… Krell. I served under him before I served under General Archer. She didn't take over until Krell… died. Krell treated us all horribly, I never tried to get closer to any of the… others because I knew that they'd probably be dead by the next mission. All of them were suicide missions and Krell never fought with us." he explained, Heart paused for a moment,

"Have you noticed any differences between Krell and General Windcaster, just by watching?" Bash stared at his feet for a minute,

"She… doesn't yell." he said slowly, "Krell yelled at us a lot."

"Ok, anything else?"

"She sits with us at mealtimes, Krell always was in his office. Someone had to bring meals to him," Heart nodded,

"Can you tell me one more difference you noticed?"

"She fights at the front," Bash said, "Krell always stood in the back and watched us, rarely ever coming to fight with us. General Windcaser is always at the very front…"

"What's she doing by being at the front?" Heart prompted,

"She's… leading," he said,

"And how is that different from Krell,"

"He bossed us around, she leads. We had to do all the heavy lifting for Krell, but with General Windcaster she wants to…"

"Protect us?" Bash nodded slowly, Heart stood up,

"Here, I want to show you something," He helped Bash out of his hospital bed and led him down the hallway. Heart pushed back the curtain to another room, Bash froze. There was General Windcaster, asleep in a hospital bed, wrapping in bandages and bacta, and more wires snaking out from under her hospital gown than he could count. Bash took a step back,

"Heart, we shouldn't be here," he whispered, Heart gripped Bash's arm firmly.

"It's alright, she's not gonna hurt you, I wanted you to see what she's willing to do for you," he said, Bash slowly started closer to General Windcaster's bed. She looked so… small. Helpless almost, he knew she wasn't but she didn't feel so scary anymore. "See? She doesn't want to hurt you Bash, and she doesn't care about your scar either. She has them too, I've seen them,"

"She… she's not like Krell is she?" he asked, Heart shook his head,

"I know it will take more time to trust her fully, and that's perfectly alright, but you've taken some big steps today," Heart said with a wide smile, Bash gave him a small smile.

* * *

Dej didn't mind night duty, he only had to patrol the ship for a few hours and it gave him some time alone to his thoughts. Jax was surprised to hear him offer to take night duty tonight because he knew Dej preferred to sleep early, but Dej knew sleep wouldn't come easy tonight. Too much had happened lately, his restless mind couldn't process it.

Fortunately, there wasn't much noise save for the tapping of his boots and the subtle and continuous hum of the Duchess's engines. It was almost comforting. The Duchess felt safer, far safer than sleeping in a trench with a blaster clutched to his chest. Well, he knew a few brothers that still slept with blasters or knives under their pillows, like Bo. Some of them just needed that extra comfort, and he could respect that.

He fell back to his own thoughts. Bash and General Windcaster were going to be alright as well, but Dej was starting to notice a pattern about her. She always throws herself into more dangerous situations when she's… upset about something. After the whole incident on Dantooine, General Windcaster had been feeling extremely guilty and she's continued to put herself in dilemma after dilemma because of that.

He suspected she'd thrown herself in front of that explosion for more than one reason. For one, she was just selfless at her core and she'd sacrifice herself to save any of them; Two, she wanted to prove to Bash that she wasn't Krell and she'd get herself hurt to do it.

Dej wished she had a bit more self-preservation than that; one of these times it won't just be an injury, and who would lead them if she were to fall. Things needed to change soon because General Windcaster had just seemed off this whole mission, she'd been jumpy and disoriented, she almost seemed disassociated with her surroundings. There was definitely something bothering her, he just wasn't sure what yet. His train of thought stopped as he heard a new noise echo through the halls of the Duchess.

At first he thought that maybe his mind was just playing tricks on him but then he heard the continued humming so he headed toward it, blaster trained. He turned the corner and spotted General Windcaster standing in the middle of the hallway, her lightsaber casting a soft green glow over her hospital gown. She looked tiny in the gown that was made for men twice her size.

"General Windcaster?" he asked, she didn't move, "Sir, are you alright?" her grip tightened on her lightsaber, "Sir…" without warning she leapt toward him her lightsaber stopping inches from his face. Her eyes flickered in the green light, they looked wild and scared. Out of focus. Dej stared at her, letting out a shaky breath as Esinon stared back at him.

"Rex go," she murmured,

"General," Dej said slowly, "General, it's me, Dej," Esinon blinked a couple of times, her blurry vision coming back into focus. Her lightsaber clattered to the floor, she slowly sank to the ground as well.

"It's not real," she murmured, Dej stared at her small body at his feet for a moment, a little shell shocked to be honest.

"General," he said slowly, he knelt down in front of her, "General, can you hear me?" she didn't answer, she stared at the ground again flinching at something that Dej couldn't see nor hear. It looked like she couldn't figure out what was real and what was fake anymore. Her memories started blurring into one another, her mind was falling apart and she didn't know how to put it back together. Dej would prefer that he didn't have to grab her but she wasn't responding and needed to be resting. He gently tugged on her arm, "General, we need to get you back to the medbay." When she didn't make a move he finally hooked his blaster to his belt, grabbed her lightsaber, and grabbed one of her arms, and placed it around his shoulder.

He stood, but Esinon didn't follow his lead, leaning against him as dead weight. Her legs were shaky and she seemed to refuse to even attempt to stand like she wanted to stay curled up on the floor instead. If she wasn't injured Dej would have just let her stay there, but he could see the red beginning to show from beneath her bandage. He stared up at the ceiling, wondering why it had to be him.

He decided that carrying her was better than trying to unceremoniously drag her back to the medbay so he placed an arm underneath her knees and hefted her into his arms. She whimpered, "Easy General," he murmured, "I've got you," he placed her lightsaber in her lap. She clasped her fingers around it, able to feel the kyber crystal that lay within the weapon. She buried her face in his chest because with her confused mind, Dej felt very similar to Rex and Rex was safe. She was going to be alright. Dej carried her back to the medbay where Heart had awoken to find General Windcaster missing and seemed relieved to see her returned.

The medic led Dej to General Windcaster's room where he deposited the Jedi on the bed, which she didn't seem too happy about seeing as she made a small growling noise and reached for his hands. She instantly rolled over to her uninjured shoulder, keeping her back to the wall. Heart sighed,

"General, you need to roll over," he said, Esinon didn't answer, Heart gently put an arm under her back and lifted her up off the bed so she was in a sitting position and strapped an oxygen mask around her face, which Esinon seemed to like even less by her small whimper. "Yeah, I know you don't like it, but you need it," Heart turned around starting to prep an IV, "Dej, can you get her lightsaber and hold her other arm. She's a little disoriented and I don't want her accidentally hurting herself… or me." Dej nodded and headed over to General Windcaster. She smiled groggily at him, her eyes looked less scared and more dazed. Dej was pretty thankful she thought he was the 501st captain; this would be more awkward for him otherwise.

"General, can I see your lightsaber for a minute?" he asked,

"Sure Rex," she muttered, handing over the weapon, he took, the opportunity of her left hand being out in the open, and locked her hand in his. She shuffled closer, leaning her head against his arm. Dej stiffened uncomfortably, he really, really wished this would pass soon. He just wanted his General to go back to normal, but she needed him right now and he was going to hold still. Heart inserted the IV into her arm and by now Esinon had fallen asleep. Heart gently placed their General back onto the bed and pulled the covers over her.

"Thank you for bringing her back Dej," Heart said gratefully, Dej nodded,

"Do you…" he trailed off and shook his head, "Nevermind," he mumbled, Heart placed a hand on his shoulder,

"We're all worried Dej, but if you want someone to talk to my door is always open," Heart said with a soft smile, Dej nodded,

"I'm going to get back to my duties," Heart nodded,

"Goodnight Dej,"

"Goodnight Heart,"

**A few days later...**

Esinon stretched,

"Kriffin' scars," She muttered as she felt the gnarled whip scars pull and tighten on her back. Today just wasn't a great scar she guessed, she grabbed her lightsaber off her belt and started to move through her lightsaber katas. They were relaxing, she wasn't overly concerned about having a really intense training session, she was going to take some time to collect herself. She'd really been struggling the last couple of days with varying memories of Zygerria and holding it together was getting harder and harder.

Everything was setting her off, after that mission it was all falling apart. She was haunted by memories and scars… all those colonists she couldn't save. She tried to shake her mind clear of any distractions, focusing on only the movements. She heard the blast door to the training room, she turned around to see Bash and Dej standing in the doorway. "Something I can help you with?" she asked, continuing her katas, one graceful move into the other. Granted she was doing them much slower than she normally would but she was trying to relax.

"We can go elsewhere sir," Dej said, she stopped turning to face them.

"It's a big training room," she said with a small chuckle, "You're not bothering me, we can even spar if you want, I'm a little bored, to be honest." Dej glanced at Bash, who gave a small nod.

"Sure we'll spar with you sir if that's what you want,"

"Alright let's do this," she said, taking a stance, both clones glanced at each other.

"Sir… you haven't chosen who you want to go first," Dej replied, Esinon placed her hands on her hips.

"I've heard you two have become quite the tag team, and I want to see how you guys work together," she said, "Trust me, I've taken on more than two people before. Now I always give this option, I won't use the force if you wouldn't like me too. I really don't need it to kick your butt," she said with a grin,

"You can use it, sir," Bash said, Dej stared at his brother in surprise. Not even two days ago, Bash had refused to even believe that General Windcaster had almost given up her life for him, now he was ok with the Jedi using their most powerful weapon.

"Great, take a moment to strategize if you like," she said, stretching her arms over her head, her facing twisting in uncomfortability. Bash recognized that look, it was one he made a lot. There were good days with his scar and bad days. It looked like whatever scars General Windcaster had, they were tight.

"She's quick," Dej muttered, "Especially if she starts using her speed, she can phase too,"

"What does that even mean?" Bash replied,

"She can vibrate at the frequency of air," Dej said,

"Jedi can do that? I'm starting to regret this already,"

"It'll be fine, she's tough to beat but we've got this. We have her in numbers and in size," he said, Bash stared at the small Jedi before following after Dej as they both took position on either side of General Windcaster until they formed a triangle. The spar started out as most did, testing the waters guarding an opponent until General Windcaster did as Dej expected and lunged towards him, he sidestepped sending the Jedi crashing into the ground. Esinon quickly flipped to her feet, rushing Dej head-on and sending quick jabs into his ribs, she spun around, hammering a kick right into his side, sending him stumbling.

Bash tried to make a surprise attack from behind but Esinon sensed it and fell into a phase, causing Bash to fall straight through her and into Dej, sending both clones to the ground. She chuckled, she yelped as she was sent to the ground when Dej swept his leg under her. She jumped to her feet, but the clones were faster and Bash caught her fist right before she was about to send it straight into his nose. Bash rammed his fist into Esinon's diaphragm, leaving the Jedi winded as she gasped for air.

She let out a small growl, sending a kick into his side, wrenching free from Bash's grasp. She launched herself toward him and wrenched his arm behind his back, she sent a force kick into Dej when she tried to attack her. She flipped over Bash's head, putting her fists up, blocking the counter-attacks of the clones at rapid speed. Dej launched at her but Esinon did a flip, in an attempt to catch her arm and bring her to the ground, but instead, his fingers brushed against her back.

Screaming, so much screaming. And blood, sweat, tears, she was broken so broken. And she didn't know if she was ever going to be able to put herself back together again.

Esinon went crashing to the ground, skidding along the mats, until she finally stopped, curled up in the floor. She shuddered, both clones stopped as Esinon slowly pushed herself up, growling what they assumed were very nasty things under her breath in another language.

"Kriffin' scars," she snarled, sitting down and pressing her fists to her forehead, fighting off memories and trying to take deep breaths. Instead, they came out as more ragged gasps,

"General…" Dej said slowly, she slowly stood up,

"I knew about Krell," she said suddenly, pushing herself to her feet. "If I would have known about the abuse sooner, I would have tried to do something, it might have been in vain though, after all, I was sixteen, and most things that teenagers say fall on deaf ears." Bash stared at her, "I should have assumed that you served under Krell, you look of age for that timeline, and most of the 818th did. Least not till the shinies started cycling through. We've all got scars Bash,"

"Not like mine," he whispered, his fingers brushing over the scarred flesh on his arm. She stared at him for a second, before getting a new idea. Esinon tugged off her tunic and turned around, there were thick, ropy, scars covering every inch of her back, they were deep and curled around her shoulders, arms and into her hairline. She let out a long sigh, turning back around, there were criss-cross scars on the right side of her abdomen. There was a thin line of a scar, stretching from her shoulder and across her collarbone. It looked old. Dej wasn't a medic but he knew that scars like that didn't come from just anything, she'd been whipped. She turned back around, Dej could still see the scars curling around her shoulders. How had he never noticed them before? She fiddled with her tunic for a minute before tugging it back over her head.

"Scars hurt Bash, I understand that, and the memories that come with them I understand even more." She said, "I was a slave for two weeks, a mission gone south when the Separatists captured a colony of togruta on Kiros. It was supposed to be a simple and easy rescue, but I ended up getting captured, so did the rest of my team. It was two weeks before I was rescued, and the damage was done."

"I-I got mine in an explosion," Bash began quietly, "I was… trying to save someone. Krell made me keep my helmet on. He… he didn't like it." Esinon stared at Bash studying his scar,

"I don't think it's ugly at all," she said softly, "You don't have to be afraid around me Bash, I'm here to lead, not to judge."

"Plus, you should be proud, both of you," Dej said, "Your scars, they're marks of bravery and survival. Bash you gained yours in the saving of a brother, and General yours saving the colonists." Esinon flinched, she hadn't saved anyone, she had just slightly lessened their suffering while sitting helpless and waiting for help to arrive. She just nodded and agreed for the moment, and let Dej continue. "Neither of you should be ashamed of your scars because they tell a story, stories of bravery and sacrifice, and I'm sure that the people you saved graining those scars are grateful for you." Bash nodded, smiling softly,

"Thank you Dej," he nodded,

"Of course vod'ika," Esinon smiled,

"You can come to me if you need anything Bash, I'm here for you, both of you," she said, eyeballing Dej, they both offered her a salute as she headed for the door of the training room. She gave one more smile as she ducked out, Dej stared at the spot where she had been standing. Bash nudged his arm,

"Ori'vod, you alright?" he asked, staring at Dej in concern, the older clone swallowed, quickly nodding,

"Yeah, let's finish our session," he said,

* * *

_Glitch flipped through channel after channel on the holobox, staring boredly at the screen. He groaned,_

_"There's nothing good to watch," he grumbled, Dej glanced up from his datapad._

_"Why don't you read a book, far more educational than any of the holo-dramas you watch,"_

_"They're supposed to be entertaining, not educational, I do enough reports in a day to fill my educational need, I want to watch people sing and dance, leave me alone," Dej chuckled,_

_"I see someone's in a bad mood," Glitch's hair recently dyed bright yellow hair flopped down in front of his eyes,_

_"Jerk," he grumbled,_

_"Punk," Dej muttered, Glitch flipped the channel again,_

_"I welcome a most special guest," a female voice said on the box, "Esinon Windcaster, Jedi General,"_

_"Wait, wait, wait," Dej said, rising from his seat, Glitch's thumb froze on the buttons. A large pair of doors opened and a small figure limped out from them, she was guarding her ribs with her arm, her other hand held up to block the sunlight from her eyes. That was her, the 212th General he'd heard so much about. Dej could hear the audience thundering, they were screaming abuse at her, the camera zoomed in on her face. There was blood dripping down the side of her face, and bruises blooming down the side of her neck. She looked terrified, she struggled to walk forward, slowly but surely she made it up to a platform._

_"My friends, my good friends," there was a Zygerrian woman standing up above the arena. "Do not fear the Jedi! They are no different than others we have forced into submission, for have forsaken their ideals to serve a corrupt Senate. The Jedi are all slaves to the Republic." Commander Windcaster bowed her head slightly, "The Jedi Order is weak, and we will help break it," the queen turned to a guard behind her and handed him something. The crowd cried over and over again._

_"Whip the Jedi! Whip the Jedi! Whip the Jedi!" It made Dej's burn with anger, he was supposed to be there. To protect the Jedi, no matter what legion they led. He clenched his fist as the butt of an electro-staff was jabbed into her back and she fell to her knees, the guard came up behind her holding an electro whip. The Queen called from above,_

_"Prove to me you are a slaver," she demanded, "Swing that whip, or die beside her," Dej grit his teeth, he was going crazy just standing here, watching it happen, but he couldn't take his eyes away. He felt so helpless, all he could do was watch. Just as he thought he was about to watch a whip fall down on her back, the whip cracked and snatched a guard's blaster away. Commander Windcaster rolled out of the way, throwing a guard with the force, Dej watched as two lightsabers were cast into the arena. Now Dej recognized the guard, it was General Skywalker. He glanced over at the sound of new footsteps entering the room, it was Commander Offee. She stood in the doorway, staring at the screen. The fight ensued, and it wasn't long until Commander Windcaster fell under the whips with a broken cry. The feed finally cut out, leaving a buzzing screen, Dej glanced over at Commander Offee who had her eyes still glued to the screen. She looked terrified, she finally moved, quickly darting back out of the common room._

_Dej felt helpless and now a Jedi was suffering because he wasn't there._

* * *

Dej had arrived at dinner late, knowing that by the time he arrived Glitch and his other batchmates would be gone. It was a calculated decision, and he wanted to ensure he'd be alone. He didn't feel like joking around or the normal comradery that was met with mealtimes, he wanted time to think. He let out a breath, scrubbing his hands down his face. He stared down at his untouched food, he hoped that in some way he was able to make General Windcaster proud of her scars. She'd survived so much, just another reminder to him that she was selfless. He didn't want her to feel ashamed or sad about her scars, because there were far too many things to be sad about during wartime.

But then he thought, she doesn't want those scars. There had been a reason he'd never seen them before, because she took care to cover them up. Something like that shouldn't have happened to her, but this was war. Good people got hurt. He pinched the bridge of his nose, rubbing at his eyes. He had always felt conflicted about the war, without it he wouldn't exist, but terrible things had happened because of it. Dej glanced up from his meal as voices tugged him from his thoughts,

"What age are padawan's even supposed to start training?" Byte asked, Jeho glanced at his brother.

"Well they begin temple training when they're around thirteen," he began, "They don't normally begin combat training out in the field till they're eighteen. Although with the war, padawans like Commander Windcaster, Tano, and Offee all started far younger than they were supposed to." Dej's mind flashed back to Commander Offee standing in that doorway, the fear in her eyes.

'They're being forced into war too young,' was the last thought that drifted through his mind.

* * *

**Hey yall! Sorry I'm so late with this chapter, things have been a little chaotic. **

**So, as much as I really don't want to do this, I need to take an extended hiatus on this story until at least my Christmas Break, maybe more. I don't have chapters prewritten, and I don't have them done on time, like ever. This is leading to me rushing and not producing the best content I can. My Christmas Break starts 21st, that's two weeks from now, and I'll have plenty of time to write during that. I'm hoping. I hope you guys understand. I have been writing various little drabbles and AU things from time to help keep from becoming stressed out, another reason why I'm taking the hiatus because I do this to relax, and well I don't feel that relaxed at the moment. Just a lot of stressors right now, and I don't want another deadline. Anyways, the tornado trio side story may be getting updated from time to time. **

**Do NOT take this in any way as I'm abandoning this story. I'm not, I really enjoy writing about Esinon, and I have a lot of stuff planned that I'm very excited about **

**Thank you for understanding, and thank you for the continued support. **

**Next up on let's make this canon corner: **

**the Zygerrians: Ms. Windcaster I don't want to continue torturing you, **

**Esinon, with an annoyed look on her face: yeah yah do**

**the Zygerrians: Yes! YES I DO!**

**Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review! **


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